Perfectly Normal
by ObsessivelyOdd
Summary: Alex is alone. Scorpia want him dead. These are the facts. But Alex knows only too well that in the world of lies and espionage, even basic truths can change.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Ok, so yeah, this isn't the most original story line, but I have one, two, three plot twists/secrets for you to read and find out about, which I know you are all dying to know. Plus, I got fed up of Alex-goes-to-the-SAS stories that never seem to get finished, so I vowed to finish this one. If anyone does know any finished SAS stories, tell me! Though I already know how, if not when, this story is going to end. So read on and tell me what you think._

_DISCLAIMER: I had a dream that I was a millionaire and owned the rights to Alex Rider. I also had a dream in which the sky was purple and the birds sang heavy metal instead of birdsong. Neither of them are true._

_***_

It was a perfectly normal day when it happened. Alex had finally caught up on his work. He had been back awhile already and his friends were starting to accept him again. He was even beginning to believe the MI6 when they said that they wouldn't be contacting him again. He was beginning to believe that he had truly escaped that world.

He should have known better.

It was the last week of term, and people were beginning to plan for the summer, even Alex. He was looking forward to summer this year. James Sprintz had invited him to Austria for a week or two in August, and he and Jack were planning on going to a villa in the South of France for a bit – Jack had actually called up Blunt to get funds from Ian's account for the trip. It had taken her three days, and she had been passed around practically every agent, secretary and cleaner in the building before the phone finally wound up on Mrs Jones desk. The lady had given in, muttering about "incessant Americans".

Even his class mates had invited him out. Alex had given promises to attend seemingly never-ending bouts of football, and already had been booked a ticket to the summer blockbuster by an over-eager Tom. He had almost managed to forget everything about MI6, or at least push it to the darkest corner of his mind. And if his football reflexes were a bit quicker, or his karate a bit more brutal, it just helped him win.

He didn't speak of the nights he woke up screaming.

But however he spent his nights, he had begun to relax during the day. He was even daydreaming in Spanish, while the teacher went through the exam they had done a few weeks ago. Later he would blame himself. He should have been paying attention. He should have noticed something was wrong. But he didn't. He was too busy watching the summer day outside the window to notice anything at all, until three armed men burst into the room.

They were dragging Jack with them.

Alex was out of his seat so fast that he seemed to blur. He aimed a kick at one of the men's stomachs, but it never landed. They were obviously expecting it and one of them sent him flying across the room and into the wall. By the time he had jumped to his feet, one of the men had a gun pressed to his head. A hand roughly grabbed his arm and he strained against it, not thinking just desperate to reach Jack. Her face was pale and she was staring at him, her eyes wide with fear.

He shook his head in desperation. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening.

One of the men holding Jack smiled mockingly at him and raised his gun.

"Scorpia never forgives, Rider. Scorpia never forgets."

The bullet went slamming into her and Alex screamed. He became wild, twisting desperately against his captor, slamming an elbow into his stomach then leaping across the room at the men holding Jack's sagging body.

Already burdened, his weight knocked both of them to the ground. One hit his head on a desk and passed out. Alex quickly knocked the other out with a blow to the temple. A bullet slammed into the floor beside him and Alex scrambled to his feet, grabbing an abandoned gun from the floor.

He took aim and fired. Once, twice.

And two bullets found their marks, one in the knee and one in the elbow of his gun arm. The man collapsed to the floor, screaming. He was easy for Alex to knock out.

Threat neutralised, Alex raced to Jack's side.

"Oh Gods, _Jack," _he moaned, oblivious to the tears coursing down his cheeks. "Please don't be dead, _please_."

His desperate, fumbling fingers found her throat, her pulse.

Nothing.

No! Wait! There!

It was weak, and painfully slow, but it was unmistakeably a pulse.

He raised his head, taking in the shocked, terrified faces of his classmates for the first time. "Somebody call an ambulance!" he screamed, desperately.

"Don't die, Jack," he whimpered, turning back to the woman in his arms. "Please don't die, I _need_ you."

Sobbing, he cradled the unresponsive woman to his chest, desperate to feel her heartbeat, unaware of the blood that was soaking into his shirt with each erratic beat.

***

Alex didn't let go of her until the paramedics arrived, gently lifting her limp form onto the stretcher. Briefly, he wondered whether the close proximity of the hospital had been a deciding factor in his uncle's choice of school for him, but he brushed the thought aside. It hardly mattered now; he was just thankful that they had arrived so quickly.

At the front of the school there were several police cars parked alongside the ambulance, and Alex recognised MI6 agents in the police uniforms. He ignored them and made to climb into the ambulance with Jack, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

It was John Crawley.

"Mr Crawley," said Alex, politely.

"Alex, you're presence is required at Liverpool Street," he said, quietly.

"Of course it is," muttered Alex bitterly, but his expression relaxed slightly when Crawley turned to the paramedics and said,

"Take her to St Dominic's."

The paramedics gave him a startled look, but nodded.

"Thank you," said Alex, gratefully.

Mr Crawley didn't comment and Alex ducked silently into the black Mercedes waiting on the curb.

***

Crawley left him in the reception area of the bank and Alex made his own way up to the office. He had been here enough times to know the way and no amount of time would erase his memories of this place.

As he walked down the corridor, he could hear Mrs Jones muffled voice, the indistinct words emanating from the closed door that he was approaching. He knocked on the door and entered.

Mrs Jones was just putting down the phone. She looked tired, older somehow.

"Alex..." she began, awkwardly, as he sat down. "That was the paramedics... Miss Starbright died on the way to hospital. Her heart gave out. They tried to resuscitate her, but her chest had suffered too much trauma from the bullet."

For a moment, Alex couldn't breathe. He felt as if a massive wave had just collapsed on top of him, crushing the air out of his body, shocking him with the pain then sending him into icy numbness. He bit back the tears that formed in his eyes. He would _not_ cry, not here, not in front of them. It would be a weakness.

"I'm sorry," murmured Mrs Jones and Alex felt a spark of anger burst to life.

Desperately he fed it, making it grow, anything to escape from the numbing blackness of pain and despair. Let the whole world burn to ash in its heat. It meant nothing without Jack anyway.

"Sorry?" he snarled, not realising he had risen to his feet. "You don't get to be sorry. If it hadn't been for you she would still be alive! It's YOUR fault she's dead and you think you can say sorry?!"

He was shouting by now, his fists clenched at his side, and tears pouring down his cheeks. _Damn it._ He had sworn that he wasn't going to cry in front of them, but he made no move to stop the tears. Hell, Jack _deserved_ tears to be shed over her. The whole world should be sobbing in grief.

He took a deep, shaky breath and forced himself to relax, unclenching his fists and sinking back into his chair. Finally, he reached up a hand and brushed away the tears still soaking his cheeks.

They were silent for a minute, neither of the adults commenting on his outburst.

"So what happens now?" he asked, eventually.

"Obviously you cannot return to the house in Chelsea, or Brooklands, as we can only assume Scorpia now knows where you live." It was Blunt speaking, his dull, emotionless tone grating on Alex's ears. "You will go to Brecon Beacons and stay there. We will send a tutor to you to help with the more... traditional side of your education."

Alex didn't respond. He didn't have the will to fight them anymore. Jack had been his will, his strength, without her, he was weak and numb. She had been his link to the life he wanted to leave, without her he couldn't find his way back even if he tried.

Mrs Jones continued, "We will try and find a better arrangement, a new guardian perhaps, but for now you must go to the SAS. It will also be an excellent opportunity to top up your training."

Alex felt a flicker of anger inside him – Jack was dead and all they could think about was his training – but he couldn't find the energy to grasp onto it and make it known. He just sat there.

"If that is all," said Blunt, "A car will pick you up outside the bank and take you to Chelsea. You can pack your things then go straight to Brecon Beacons."

"Wait," said Alex, looking up. "What about my class? What will you tell them? What will happen to them?"

"As far as we are aware, Scorpia has no designs on your classmates, just you, so they will be left to continue their lives as they were. As for what we will tell them, we will tell them nothing. An agent, disguised as a police officer, will go in next week and ask questions about the incident."

"What kind of questions?" asked Alex, suspiciously.

Mrs Jones looked uncomfortable and refused to meet his eye. It was Blunt who answered. "We are playing on your reputation as a drug addict. We will try to make them assume that this is gang related."

Alex closed his eyes. It was the only sign of the anger, despair and pain whirling inside him that he gave. In silence, he rose and headed for the door.

Mrs Jones called out to him as he reached it.

"Oh, and Alex?"

Alex turned to look at her.

"Well done, you saved many lives today."

Alex didn't answer. He didn't have anything to say.

***

_A/N: Ok, so what did you think? Good? Bad? Crime against Humanity? Review and TELL ME!!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Ok, so I am completely, totally, __**utterly**__ overwhelmed by the response I have received for this story. Over thirty reviews for just one chapter. Thanks you guys, I love you! I am trying to answer them all, it might take me a day or two as I was away for the week and have now got them all at once, but I am going to attempt it, I promise!_

_DISCLAIMER: If wishes were money, I'd be a millionaire by now... but probably still no closer to owning Alex Rider._

***

Wolf groaned as voices drifted through to his sleep-clouded brain. He supposed he couldn't be mad; they hadn't woken him - the stupid storm had. It was raging with an intensity that only summer storms can, though Wolf was forced to wonder if it _ever_ stopped raining here.

"Stop cheating, Eagle."

"I'm not cheating! I swear!"

"You have two aces in your hand," pointed out Leopard. He had joined the group just about year ago now, when Fox had left to join MI6. Wolf would never understand why – he, himself, was a soldier through and through.

"Yeah, so? There are four aces in a deck, in case you have forgotten."

"They're from the same suit!" exclaimed Leopard.

"No, they're not!" denied Eagle.

Wolf growled and reached over the edge of the bed, feeling around until he found his large, heavy combat boot.

Eagle yelped as it him on the head.

"What was that for?" he whined. Wolf snarled in reply.

"That," smirked Leopard, "was for being abysmally stupid and _appallingly _bad at cheating."

It looked as though Eagle was about to retort, but Leopard cut him off with a sigh. "Just hand over the ace, Eagle," he said, holding his hand out.

Eagle pouted and handed over the card.

Leopard grinned and slipped it into his own hand.

At Eagle's affronted expression, his grin widened and he said, "If you're going to cheat, cheat in _style._"

A loud roll of thunder drowned out Eagle's rude retort and the room lapsed into silence, apart from the pounding rain on the roof.

"I hate storms," grumbled Eagle, playing a card.

"Aww, is wittle Eagle afwaid of the big bad storm?" teased Leopard.

Once again, Wolf's boot, launched by Eagle this time, sailed through the air and hit Leopard on the nose. The man yelped, much like Eagle had done before, and raised a hand to the injured appendage.

Another flash of lightening and roll of thunder. The storm was undoubtedly getting worse.

Sighing, Snake lay down his book. "As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of agree with Eagle on this one. Storms really p-"

He was cut off as the door was flung open.

All four heads swivelled to the entrance, four pairs of eyes skimming over the newcomer.

He was perhaps 5'11", with blond hair and cold, haunted brown eyes. His t-shirt was clinging to him, outlining the well-defined muscles hidden beneath it. He was dripping wet from the torrential rain, had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and a scowl to rival Wolf's plastered across his handsome features.

"Who are you?" asked Leopard, coldly.

Wolf rose to his feet and crossed to stand in front of the unorthodox fifth member of their unit.

"This," he sneered, "is Double-oh-Nothing."

"My name," spat Alex coldly, "is Cub."

"Cub?" said Leopard, nonplussed. "_Please_ tell me that he isn't joining our unit."

Snake shrugged. "He was there when we trained, for about ten days then he disappeared. We were never told why he was there. I'm guessing it's the same this time."

"So we just have to babysit him for two weeks?" sneered Leopard.

"Not exactly," said Alex, crossing to his bunk and dumping his bag on it.

"Why not?" asked Wolf, suspiciously.

"I don't need babysitting."

***

Alex concentrated the burn in his abs. It almost managed to drown out the other pain. Not quite, but almost. He still couldn't believe it had happened. Jack was... gone and he had been sent here. Permanently. No more Brooklands School, just a series of tutors teaching him diplomacy, languages and politics on top of the GCSE's he had been doing at school. What with these lessons on top of all the usual SAS training and fitness, Alex found he would have very little time to himself. He was actually glad about that. Without time to occupy, he had managed to push his feelings of isolation and loneliness to one-side. It was safer this way, anyway: his classmates wouldn't be a potential target anymore.

Alex shook his head to clear it of the melancholy thoughts and switched to press ups on command. The sergeant had to be a sadist, he decided. Why else would he have put Wolf in charge of assessing his fitness?

Alex gritted his teeth as Wolf yelled an order and changed to a series of short sprints. The fierce, burning ache in his legs was starting to give way to weariness. He could barely stand up.

"Come on, Cub!" yelled Wolf, mockingly from behind him. "Can't you go faster than that?"

Alex gritted his teeth and drove his legs to go faster. It was very tempting to punch Wolf, but he was almost certain it wouldn't be worth it. _Then again…_ he thought, as Wolf ordered him to change to sit-ups once more. Ten minutes later, Alex collapsed to the ground. Wolf hadn't told him to stop, but by now he was too tired to care.

When no derogatory comment was came, and there was no boot in his side, Alex let his head fall to the side. Wolf was still standing there, smiling amusedly.

"Took you long enough, Cub," he said, gruffly. "Here." He chucked him a bottle of water, which Alex drank, gratefully. He was only just starting to realise that Wolf had been intending on running him into the ground from the beginning. "Stand up and walk around," advised Wolf, "It'll loosen off your muscles."

Alex sent him a low level glare and levered himself off the floor. He shook himself and began to relax as his breathing returned to normal.

Wolf checked his watch. "Come on, Cub. You're on the assault course, next. You feeling up to a short run?"

Alex scowled at him, but obediently fell in step with the long, loping pace that Wolf set. It surprised him that he wasn't feeling resentful in the slightest. He was actually enjoying being able to push himself without the risk of bullets or thugs.

When they reached the assault course, four men were waiting for them.

"This is F-Unit," said Wolf. "Jackal, Hawk, Cougar and Viper. They will be conducting the rest of your assessment."

Alex cast a questioning look at Wolf, but the man didn't meet his gaze. Instead, he turned on his heel and jogged off in the direction of the barracks.

Alex turned back to F-Unit. They had varying looks of disbelief, surprise and disgust on their faces.

Hawk sneered. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Cub," replied Alex shortly.

"I know that, _Cub,_" said Hawk, mockingly, "but what are you doing here? You don't belong here; you're just a school boy."

Alex didn't respond, simply looking levelly at the soldier.

Apparently encouraged by his target's silence, Hawk continued. "Gods I hope you aren't with MISO. I don't want to know what would happen if the fate of the world rested in _your_ hands."

Alex sighed. This was getting irritating. "Can we get on with this?" he asked impatiently.

Behind Hawk's back, Alex saw Jackal give an amused smirk. Viper raised an eyebrow and caught his eye. Both quickly looked away from each other, though both seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face once they saw Hawks' shocked expression.

Quickly, Cougar stepped forward. "Of course we can. It's really quite simple. Get over the course as fast as you can. We'll be at the other end with a stop watch. You have fifteen minutes."

Alex tilted his head and looked at Cougar. Slowly, the soldier crossed to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder, looking seriously at him.

"I've started the timer."

Alex took off at a sprint.

***

In the end, he completed it in sixteen minutes and eighteen seconds, thanks to improved fitness and quicker reflexes. Considering his last time had been about seventeen minutes, Alex thought he had done quite well, but Cougar still forced him to do 78 press-ups, one for every second that he was over the time limit.

About press up thirty two, a painful twinge in his shoulder voiced his body's objection. He was surprised it had taken so long for his bullet wound to hurt him, but he guessed that his own personal fitness regime, while nothing compared to this, had helped quite a lot. Subtly, so as not to attract attention from F-Unit, he switched his weight entirely to his right hand to give his left shoulder a rest. It was harder work, but at least he didn't have the possibility of his arm collapsing underneath him. He wasn't sure if anyone had been told about his injury, but if they hadn't, he sure as hell wasn't going to give them a reason to find out.

When he finally stood up, Hawk smiled nastily. "Right kid, combat assessment next, unarmed."

Alex looked up at the four burly soldiers in front of him.

_Bugger._

***

_A/N: Ok, so you met K-Unit again! Yay! Don't you just love me? What did you think of Leopard by the way? And yah, Wolf is being a bit of a bastard at the moment... sorry, but it works out well in the end... or then again maybe not... I've not got that far yet. You have another OC to look forward to in the next chapter... and you find out where Wolf ran off to! Whoop! Ok, so you're probably not that interested, but anyway._

_Please Review. You all did so well last week and it makes me so happy!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: ok so it's been half a week, normally I'll update once or twice a week, at least until the 10__th__ of July. After that it might get a bit less reliable as I won't actually be home and don't know when I'll have access to the internet. I'll update when I can though._

_Also, I have had some complaints about my initial training scene with Alex and Wolf. It is, admittedly extremely similar toa scene in Arithilim's Close protection of a sort. I have had this scene on my computer for absolutely ages now, and any similarities were unintentional. But it is possible that she did inspire this scene and so I would like to refer you all to her fantastic story._

_Oh, and thanks to everyone who pointed out my – very embarrassing – mistake in the last chapter. Would you believe me if I said I was just testing you? I guess not. Anyway, the mistake is now fixed, yay!_

_DISCLAIMER: Who really thought I owned Alex Rider? Come on, hands up!_

_... no offence, but anyone who raised their hand is an idiot._

***

Wolf entered the barracks to find the rest of his unit already there.

"Have you got it?" he asked.

No one spoke, but Snake held up a thin brown folder.

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "Is that _it_?" he questioned, dubiously.

Snake nodded, a slight frown marring his brow.

Wolf sighed, "Well let's have a look then."

_**Name: **__Alexander Rider, aka 'Cub'_

_**Date of Birth: **__12/02/19**_

_**Relations: **__Helen Rider (née Beckett) – mother – deceased.  
John Rider – father – deceased.  
Ian Rider – uncle – deceased.  
Jacqueline – or 'Jack' – Starbright – former guardian  
Tom Harris – friend [note: it is possible that Harris knows of subject's status, though no action has so far been taken to confirm this.]  
Sabina Pleasure – friend, possible romantic interest. Appears to have lost contact with subject after moving to America. [Pleasure is confirmed to know of subject's status.]_

_Alex will shortly be placed in the collective guardianship of the SAS and will be staying there until he turns eighteen. _

_**Skills/Abilities: **__Karate, second Dan. Speaks French, German and Spanish fluently. Has been quad biking, climbing, white water rafting, kayaking. Has achieved his dive master qualification in SCUBA diving [note – will eventually be taking a military diving course. Subject does not know this.] Has been parachuting and BASE jumping. Has shown good abilities in kite surfing, though no professional tutelage. Has brief SAS training and completed ************* and ***** training with ******._

_**Health: **__In shape, though has several potentially detrimental injuries, most notably ****** *****_

_**Assignments: **__Has been on ten missions to date: 5 with MI6; 1 independently at the behest of John Crawley; 2 with CIA and 1 with ASIS. Has also undertaken one mission completely independently._

_**Status: **__Available, though has been out of the field for three months. Plan will be implemented to return him to active service soon._

"What the _hell?_" hissed Wolf. "There is _nothing_ in here. They don't even give us his age!"

Snake took the file from him and glanced over it. He frowned. "What do you think they mean by 'potentially detrimental injuries'" he asked.

"No idea, but whatever they are, I can guarantee that Cub won't tell us," said Eagle.

There was a pause as Leopard and Eagle read over the file.

"I guess we were wrong about the couple-of-weeks thing," said Leopard quietly.

Wolf grunted. If he was honest, he felt sorry for the kid. Wolf had a large family, and it had always been important to him. This kid had no one.

"So what do we do?" asked Eagle.

Wolf shook his head. "Nothing," he said shortly. "We do nothing. It isn't our responsibility."

***

Alex eyed the men warily. All four of them were kitted out in the traditional white suits, with a black belt around their waists. Jackal was a higher belt than him, with Cougar and Viper being just one belt below and Hawk equal.

This was going to be a hard fight, whoever he fought.

Hawk stepped forward to face him. They bowed curtly to each other and moved back. Alex eyed his opponent carefully. He had strength, he was sure, but Alex had already spotted one weakness: Alex could spot the minute movements that betrayed his intentions. He had never been taught to hide it.

Hawk lashed out with a kick, and Alex dodged it easily. Two punches were aimed at his face, but Alex wasn't there. A knife hand, an uppercut, a back kick, all were thrown and none landed. Hawk was starting to get annoyed.

Alex had to admit that he had strength and skill, but he needed to be faster – much faster – if he was going to beat Alex.

Alex ducked to avoid another blow, and heard two more men come up behind him. Instinctively, he leapt to the side, just in time to avoid Cougar's kick.

Now Alex was fighting three men, with only Jackal observing. Still, he kept on the defensive, dodging and blocking blows, but not retaliating.

He heard Jackal sigh with impatience. Maybe he should finish this.

He ducked a punch from Viper and, spinning on the ball of his foot to face the two soldiers behind him, lashed out with a back at the isolated Hawk. He used his momentum to bring his fist around in a wide, sweeping arc and catch the unsuspecting soldier directly behind his ear. Hawk crumpled, unconscious, to the ground.

The move cost him, though, and for the first time Viper got a hit through.

The force of the brutal kick sent him staggering back, even though he had managed to deflect if away from his kidneys. Before he could regain his balance, Cougar threw a fist at him. Too unsteady to dodge or block, Alex grabbed his arm and pulled him forwards, simultaneously swiping his legs out from under him and turning to face Viper again. Alex knew that the other two had been taken by surprise by his lightening switch from defensive to offensive, but he would have no such advantage with Viper. Instead, he lashed out in a vicious pattern of blows. Uppercut. Uppercut. Turning kick. Knife hand. Uppercut. Back kick.

Viper blocked most of them, then leapt back to avoid the kick. Alex span, turning incredibly fast and moving forward at the same time, bringing a knife hand sharply onto Viper's unprepared neck. He fell unconscious.

Alex turned around to find Cougar climbing once again to his feet and dropped into a low block. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up – he was already exhausted and the brief rest before the assessment had done nothing to help. In fact it had made things worse. Combine all of this with the ache on the side of his chest from Viper's kick and Alex felt like he was about to collapse.

"Enough," said Jackal calmly, and Cougar relaxed his stance. After a moment or two, Alex did the same, relieved. He quickly turning to check on the two unconscious soldiers.

Viper, he judged would come around in just under a minute. What he had done had not been particularly dangerous and generally didn't knock opponents out for long. Hawk, however, had a bruise forming behind his ear. From the position, it was unlikely he would have concussion, but he wouldn't be waking up for a while.

Jackal and Cougar were both staring at him.

"I apologise," he said, formally. "I have been taught to fight as if my life depended on it and sometimes it is... difficult for me to judge how much force I should put into a punch."

Jackal nodded. "We're going to have to work on that," he said, quietly.

Alex looked down at the floor so that they wouldn't see the pain in his eyes. They couldn't know why he found it so difficult. They couldn't know that Scorpia had trained him to disable or kill with every blow.

"Jackal, could you take him to the shooting range? I want to stay with these two until they wake up."

Jackal nodded, and signalled Alex to follow him.

***

"Have you shot before?" asked Jackal. Alex nodded silently.

"Ok, I want you to shoot at those targets over there. A bullet in each one. After that, we'll test you on the moving ones."

Alex nodded his understanding and took the proffered gun. "Do you want me to reassemble it first?" he asked.

Jackal raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you would be able to. If you can, then go ahead."

Alex looked over the gun carefully for a moment, then began.

A minute later he was finished, and Jackal was staring at him.

"Where did you learn to do that?" asked the soldier quietly.

Alex shrugged. When Jackal frowned, he added, quickly, "I can't tell you. It's classified."

He turned to face the targets, fully aware of Jackal's eyes, still burning with curiosity, resting on him.

But if Jackal had been surprised by Alex ability and sped when dismantling the gun, it was nothing compared to how he felt when he saw him shoot.

The loose, yet secure, grip that the kid had on the gun, seemed scarily natural, as if the gun was part of him. He didn't even seem to aim and five shots later the results were recorded – five bullets, all dead in the centre of the targets. Jackal had never seen anything like it. He swallowed his shock and wordlessly set up the moving targets. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when the kid got exactly the same result.

"And is where you learnt to shoot classified as well?" he asked, quietly.

The kid looked at him, an impish smirk tugging slightly at the corner of his mouth as he nodded.

"Am I needed for anything else?" asked Alex.

Jackal shook his head, "Your tutor will be coming this afternoon to test you on languages and your other subjects, but you have about an hour until he gets here, so just... go back to your barracks or something, ok kid?"

Alex nodded and slipped out of the firing range.

***

He originally intended to go for a run, but as the incessant rain set in again, he figured that maybe heading back to the barracks wouldn't be such a bad idea.

He almost turned around and headed straight back out when he saw Snake and Leopard playing with a well worn deck of cards – honestly, was that all they did or something? – but an ominous roll of thunder persuaded him otherwise.

"Cub!" exclaimed Leopard, grinning. "Want to play?"

Alex stared at him incredulously for a moment, wondering where on earth this new attitude had come from, before snapping his mask back into place and raising an eyebrow sardonically. "No, thanks," he declined. "You all cheat. I'm still trying to figure out if it's all the soldiers or just this unit."

"Oh, come on," protested Leopard. "We're not that bad! It's just Eagle!"

Alex tried very hard not to laugh as he saw Snake innocently exchange one of his cards behind Leopard's back. He managed it, just, and said, straight-faced, "Oh really?"

Leopard twisted around so fast that he blurred and glared suspiciously at Snake.

"What did you do?" he asked, distrustfully.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Snake, acting hurt by the accusation. Leopard growled, and Snake held up his hands. "Honestly! I didn't do anything, why would I? I'm going to win anyway!"

Leopard scowled. "Are you sure you don't want to play?" he asked Alex.

"You just want him to play so we have to re-deal," complained Snake.

Leopard grinned, unrepentant. "So how about it, Cub?"

Alex crossed to his bunk, rolling his eyes. He pulled off his T-shirt quickly, careful to face the wall so they wouldn't see the majority of his scars, and replaced it with a fresh one. Fully clothed he turned back to them, a malicious glint in his eyes.

"Have either of you ever played the Game?"

Both soldiers looked confused and Alex smirked.

"The only rule I may tell you is this one: the game of Mao is as the game of life. You learn as you play...

As their confusion became more pronounced, Alex felt his grin widen. Revenge was sweet.

***

They were interrupted some time later by a hard, cold voice echoing from the door. "I'm looking for Cub."

Alex turned and did a double take. The man standing in the door way was intimidating to say the least. He was a good foot taller than Alex, and even more well-built than Wolf. He was light on his feet and Alex instantly felt wary of the obvious skill and confidence he portrayed.

Alex rose cautiously to his feet, the cards lying forgotten on the table.

"You are Cub?" asked the man.

Alex nodded, warily. He could feel Snake and Leopard's eyes on him, obviously wondering at his reticence, but Alex could recognise the danger in this man and knew better than to push his luck.

"I am your tutor, Aikema. You will in future refer to me as 'sir' or 'Sensei'."

Alex's eyes widened. He knew that _Sensei_ was commonly used in Japan, but in England it was generally only used in martial arts. The thought of being taught Karate by this man was... uncomfortable.

"Do you understand?"

Again Alex nodded, unwilling to speak until he knew more about the man in front of him. Instantly a foot lashed out and caught Alex in the stomach, sending him crashing into the table where Snake and Leopard were still sitting.

"You will answer a direct question verbally," instructed Aikema. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said Alex sullenly, regaining his feet and pointedly not massaging his painful stomach.

"Good. Follow me."

Silently Alex followed the man out, ignoring Snake and Leopard and the shocked expressions on their faces.

***

_A/N: Ok so yeah, Aikema doesn't seem so nice, does he? He isn't completely inhuman, I promise!_

_So please Review and tell me what you thought – and thank you for all the wonderful reviews I have been getting. I can't believe how many I've got so far! Let's keep them coming, people!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Ok so I was going to post this tomorrow... but I was bored (ish) so decided to post it tonight instead. Don't you just love me? In other news... I'll be posting every Wednesday regularly, or if that isn't an option I'll post Tuesday evening instead. That ok with everyone? (If you're wondering about FFH, it'll be updated Saturday or Sunday. Again once a week.)_

_I would also like to dedicate this chapter... ok well this entire story really... to Timon x3 as she was the one who gave me the confidence to post this. She has read every chapter before I have posted it and pulled me up a lot when I started to wander all over the place. It's thanks to her that... ok well I can't tell you that, it would spoil the story line, but anyway. Suffice it to say she has given me some really good ideas._

_And finally, onto the chapter. There was something else I was going to say, but I've forgotten it... aren't you glad that you don't have to listen to even more of my waffle?_

_DISCLAIMER: Oh come on, haven't you got the picture by now?_

***

Alex quickly worked out the rules. He would not be punished for lack of knowledge, or lack of skill, unless it was due to his own inattention. He _would_ be punished, and severely, for disobedience, or disrespect. Despite this, Alex found himself eager to learn from the man, having frequently been denied the opportunity when he was at Brooklands due to his lack of attendance and then, after the teachers gave up on him, lack of attention. Here that was not a problem and with one-on-one lessons, Alex found that he was progressing faster than ever.

This, combined with his swiftly delivered punishments, led him to hold his teacher in high, if slightly nervous, regard and heightened his pleasure in learning.

He quickly realised that Aikema was not only to be his tutor in his school work, and the various other subjects that MI6 felt it would be beneficial for him to study, but also in martial arts and to continue the ninja training he had received with Scorpia. But the work was _hard_ and combining it all with the regular SAS training left him worn out. And while Aikema's methods were effective, they did nothing to help Alex's steadily increasing exhaustion.

Languages were the worst though. As well as the more conventional lessons in each new language, Alex frequently found him having to fumble his way through economic lessons in Russian, or work towards his maths GCSE in Japanese.

His ninja assignments were often quite fun, however, and more than made up for the thickness of his tongue in the new languages. One day he had been instructed to follow K-Unit, do exactly as they did, and not be seen. He had almost managed it. Unfortunately, an ill-timed shout from Jackal and Alex's relaxed state now that the end was in sight caused the four soldiers to turn around and see him.

Eagle sealed his fate. "Cub! How are you? We've not seen you all day!" he exclaimed.

Out of nowhere, Aikema appeared. "That is too bad, Cub. I really thought you were going to succeed."

Alex didn't reply.

"Where did you go wrong?" asked Aikema.

Alex sighed and hung his head, avoiding Aikema's accusatory gaze.

"I relaxed before the assignment was completely over," he muttered sullenly.

"I think we shall make it two hours, Cub."

Alex's head snapped up. "What?! That's not-"

His complaint was cut off by a powerful blow to his cheek that sent him to the floor.

"You do not answer back," stated Aikema calmly.

Alex glowered at him and climbed back to his feet. "I apologise, Sensei," he said, albeit with bad grace.

"Three hours, Cub. Starting now."

Alex sighed and jogged off.

As he disappeared, K-Unit approached his tutor.

"What was his assignment?" asked Wolf, curiously.

"To follow you from breakfast to dinner, doing everything you did and not be seen. He failed, though I was impressed that he managed it for as long as he did."

Eagle's mouth had fallen open slightly. "I'm sorry. Did you just say he has managed to follow us since _breakfast_ and we have only just seen him?" he asked incredulously.

Aikema nodded, a smug smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Snake's eyes narrowed. "And did you just hit him because he failed to complete it?"

"No, I hit him for being disrespectful and arguing with me. He should know better – he _does_ know better, usually."

"And the three hours thing?" asked Leopard, tilting his head to one side.

"That _is_ his punishment for failing."

"You can't punish him simply because he couldn't do something," said Snake, frowning.

"No, but I can punish him for failing to do something he _should_ have been able to do, because of his own inattention."

Snake was still frowning slightly, but let the matter drop, for the moment.

"And what is this punishment? Mess duty or something?" grunted Wolf.

"That," said Aikema, "is singularly the most pointless exercise I have ever witnessed. If I were to use something like that to punish Cub, it would have no effect apart from to irritate him. He is not here to learn how to scrub pots."

The MI6 tutor walked off, leaving four very confused SAS soldiers behind.

***

It was dark when Alex finally returned from his punishment and he was distinctly glad that there had been no lecture tonight as he was already exhausted. His arms were cramping from exertion, and from being locked in one position for the last three hours. Carefully he stretched out his taut muscles before sliding into his bunk. When the others came in ten minutes later, he was fast asleep.

The soldiers looked at the boy who had, once again, been unceremoniously dumped on them. He looked so much younger when he was asleep. Tension they had never even realised was there had left his face. He looked peaceful, and almost innocent, something he could never achieve when you could see his weary, watchful eyes.

Leopard swore under his breath. "He's just a kid. Why did they send him here? He should be at school or something."

"Apparently he doesn't have anywhere else to go," said Snake quietly, looking at the boy in front of them.

"Bullshit," said Leopard forcibly. "They could have found him somewhere if they tried. Why not a boarding school? Why stick him in a camp full of soldiers?"

"It's not our problem," said Wolf harshly, looking away from the boy.

"Wolf, come on, he's part of our unit. Surely that makes it our problem."

"Part of our unit? You really think they're going to send him on missions with us? He's just a kid!"

"How should we know? We don't know anything about him; that could be exactly what they are planning!"

Snake sighed and sat down on his bunk. "So what do we know about him?"

"More skills than relationships. Has completed twice as many missions as we have in the same time length. He is stubborn, and extremely good at what he does, or so I would assume from what I've seen."

"Wolf," whined Eagle, "You sound like you're writing his file!"

"There has to be more than that," said Leopard frowning.

"Somewhere between his first visit and now he has been taught how to shoot and whoever taught him, the information is classified, which means that it wasn't MI6." That was Eagle.

"His father was a member of the SAS," offered Snake. This earned him a curious look from Wolf, so he shrugged and said, "I remembered a mention of a John Rider in one of our seminars. I looked him up and he looked just like Cub. He died about twelve, thirteen years ago, along with his wife."

"Did it say how they died?"

"Plane crash, apparently, but I don't believe it. He was given a dishonourable discharge three years before he died, and yet his death was still recorded."

"So the discharge was probably a cover?"

"Seems like it to me," agreed Snake.

"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed Leopard, in hushed tones. "We know more about the kid's deceased father than we do about him!"

"We know he has nightmares," said Eagle quietly.

The other three soldiers turned to look at their youngest member in surprise. The sight was horrific. Although he was completely silent, he was thrashing around as if someone was trying to kill him with a look of pain and fear etched into his once peaceful features.

"Do we wake him?" wondered Snake.

"It's not our problem," insisted Wolf, then hesitated and added in a low voice, "and besides, would you want to know that others had seen you like that? I can guarantee that Cub won't."

"So we do nothing?" said Leopard with a frown.

"At the moment, we don't really have any other options."

***

_A/N: Only one thing to say here... REVIEW, even if you disliked it!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Wow, I know it's only been a week, but it still feels like ages since I posted. I guess because I normally post twice a week, once on different stories. Well, I'll just be glad that I managed to save this story, I lost it twice before the first chapter was complete and I don't think I could rewrite all of it a third time. Well, I haven't rewritten Chapter 2 of from failing hands, so sorry to anyone who is reading that, but I will hopefully have it done for Saturday. I reckon I should be able to write one chapter of that a week easily, and if I'm honest I wasn't entirely happy with chapter 2 anyway, so you're probably getting a better update in the end. Don't worry, there won't be any delays in this as I have already got the first 11 chapters written, and several scenes planned out way in advance. And I'm babbling. I have committed the sin of an AN for the sake of an AN, sorry!_

_DISCLAIMER: Do I really need to say this? *sigh* I neither own Alex Rider, or make any money from what is written here. It is purely for the act of writing that I write it!_

***

Alex tried to back away as Sarov's decimated head floated towards him. "No..." he whimpered, trying to tear himself away from whatever held him rooted to the spot.

The head changed into Frau Vole's twitching corpse... then Nile's crushed body... then Damien Cray... then Drevin... then Yassen Gregorovitch...

Then Jack.

Her once vibrant red hair was darkened and matted with blood, blood which streaked down her pale skin, blood that still seeped from the gaping wound in her chest.

"_It's your fault I'm dead,"_ she whispered, her familiar tones heavy with hate.

"No..." whimpered Alex.

"_You killed me."_

"I swear... I didn't know... I tried!"

"_It's all your fault!"_

"NO!"

Alex woke up. The familiar, metallic taste of blood was permeating his mouth and he realised he had bitten through his lip to keep from crying out. Roughly he dragged his hand across the wound, but only succeeded in smearing it over his chin. He climbed shakily out of his bed and quietly left the hut, hopping that his ragged panting wouldn't wake the others.

In the shower block, he splashed frigid water onto his face to wake himself up and carefully cleaned the bloody tear in his lip. Gods, he looked as if he had decided to get it pierced. He just hoped that it would stop bleeding by morning or K-Unit would never let it pass.

Sighing, he stripped off his T-shirt and boxers and stepped into the icy showers. It felt good to wash the sweat off him, despite the coldness of the British night.

It didn't feel quite so good when he got out and realised that in his haste to leave the barracks, he had forgotten a towel, shoes and a fresh set of clothing. Grumbling under his breath, he pulled on his boxers, abstaining from his sweat-slicked t-shirt, and walked gingerly back to the hut to change into his uniform.

Unable to stand the enclosed space, he left again immediately. He never saw Snake's dark eyes glittering in the moonlight.

***

Outside, he began to walk, but his pace grew faster and faster until he was jogging, then sprinting, through the trees. Tears blurred his vision but he made no effort to wipe them away. He was too distracted to see the root until he tripped over it, landing heavily on the floor.

"Oh, gods, _Jack,"_ he moaned into the damp earth.

"I'm so sorry... so goddamn _sorry."_

He didn't know how long he lay there, sobbing into the soothing earth, but when he heard footsteps approaching and pulled himself into a sitting position, it was that clean, cool light of early morning.

The crack of a twig alerted him to the others presence and he looked up. He was surprised to find Aikema standing there, as he knew the man could, and normally did, walk completely silently. Perhaps the soft, but clearly audible, footfalls had been deliberate?

He tried to slide his masks into place, but for some reason his face wasn't obeying him as it normally did, so he looked down at the ground to avoid his teacher's gaze.

"Your unit is looking for you," said Aikema softly.

Alex nodded silently and Aikema sighed.

"I know about your guardian," he said, and Alex flinched. "I'm sorry."

Alex let out a hoarse, sardonic laugh. "Why should you be? You never even met her."

"No, but I am sorry that you lost someone so close to you. I may not feel guilty about it, but that does not mean that it does not make me sad to see you like this."

For the first time, Alex raised his head and surveyed his teacher's sombre expression. "Thanks," he said quietly.

There was an awkward pause as Aikema sat down next to Alex.

Eventually Alex started talking again, his voice hoarse and thick with tears he couldn't quite disguise. "They wouldn't even let me go to her funeral. Her parents took her back to America... I never even got to say goodbye." His voice broke slightly on the last word, and he buried his face in his knees again.

Aikema sighed and squeezed his charge's shoulder. "Take the morning off. Go and relax. I'll see you at one o'clock for martial arts."

Alex nodded and rose to his feet. By the time he looked up again, Aikema was gone.

***

Alex knew that he should get some breakfast, he was going to need the energy despite having the morning off, but somehow he just couldn't face the crowded mass of people that would be in the mess hall. In the end, his practicality gained enough control for him to slip inside, grab an apple and leave without talking to anyone.

He ate it leaning against the wall of the barracks he shared with K-Unit, sheltered under the overhang in case the rain set in again. Judging from the clouds, it was sure to do so soon.

Jack never could decide whether she liked the rain or hated it. She loved being caught outside in a thunder storm, but couldn't stand the constant drizzle that England was renowned for. Alex had often teased her about how dumb an idea it had been to move to the wettest country in Europe when she didn't like the rain.

"Ah shit," whispered Alex as tears began to fall down his cheeks again.

He just couldn't believe she was really gone. She had been like a sister to him, and Scorpia had...

And Scorpia had murdered her. Because of him.

He slammed his head back against the wall.

"Fuck!" he yelled, his voice breaking at the last second to give way to wracking sobs.

The clouds gave way, and the rain thundered down, mingling with his tears and drenching him despite the overhang, until he was just as cold outside as he felt within.

***

He didn't even realise he had fallen asleep until he was startled awake. Instantly, he knew something was wrong, but couldn't tell what. The rain, despite being lighter now than it was before, was still drowning out any noise and reducing visibility to just a couple of metres. All he could hear was his own laboured breathing and the pounding rain. All he could see was the dark green blurs of the pine trees... and the grey pounding rain.

Slowly he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and find that tranquil centre that he had been taught to use, first by Scorpia then by Aikema, but it was no good. His senses were screaming at him that danger was near; he just couldn't tell where. He concentrated on his breathing, pulling himself out from the fuzzy veil of sleep and concentrating fully on the non-situation at hand.

A twig snapped and he leapt to his feet, automatically falling into a basic Karate stance, his hands forming a tight defensive block.

"Wow, Cub, calm down!" said a familiar voice. It was Snake.

Alex relaxed, his arms falling to his sides.

"Sorry," he muttered, his eyes still darting around the clearing. Was he really just being paranoid?

"Here, I brought you this," said Snake, handing over a hunk of bread and cheese. Alex raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Where did you get it?" he asked, knowing full well that lunch was just a five-letter word here.

"No one can do even half a day's training on four hours sleep and an apple, Cub."

Alex froze, bread half way to his mouth.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

Something in Snake's face seemed to flicker slightly before he answered. "Oh, just woke up in the middle of the night to see you slipping out of the door in full uniform. Guess you couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Yeah," said Alex, still eyeing Snake suspiciously. "You know how it is sometimes, right?"

Snake nodded. "Come on," he said, "We have martial arts now. We don't want to be late."

Alex nodded, hurriedly wolfing down the bread and cheese and muttering a thank you to Snake.

***

Wolf, Eagle and Leopard were already there when Snake and Alex arrived and, though Alex cast a wary eye around the room, there was no sign of Aikema.

"Right," said Wolf, taking charge. "First of all, Snake versus Eagle. Winner fights me and then Leopard can fight Cub. Sound fair to everyone?"

There were a scattering of nods, and Eagle and Snake stepped forward.

The two soldiers were evenly matched, noted Alex. Both were strong and extremely skilled and though Eagle had several inches of height advantage on Snake, Snake was ever so slightly faster to offset the difference.

But like with Hawk, and the rest of F-Unit, Alex found that he could predict most of their movements before they made them. If this were a real fight, against a real, well-trained enemy, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Inwardly, Alex berated himself, reminding himself sternly that there were very few enemies who would be as well-trained as Scorpia assassins and that the SAS mainly dealt with war zones and guns, not hand-to-hand combat.

But still... this was Britain's elite. Surely they should be at least able to partially hide it?

Snake won the fight, and Wolf in turn defeated Snake, knocking him to the floor with his signature back kick, a move that Alex remembered only too well.

As Eagle leant down and pulled Snake, still gasping, to his feet, Alex stepped up to meet Leopard. Both bowed slightly to each other and dropped into Karate stances.

They sparred for a few minutes, each getting the feel for the others style of attack and Alex deliberately toning down his offensive manoeuvres so as not to seriously injure Leopard.

He felt, rather than heard, the attack coming from behind him, and dropped into a roll to avoid the attacker that went flying over his head. He quickly regained his feet and saw Aikema landing lightly opposite him. This fight was ten times more brutal than the one he had been engaged in with Leopard. Alex found himself pushed to his limit as he blocked the flurry of punches, only managing to return a few of his own, and none of them landed.

He acknowledged the bystanders presence, but only to the extent of locating another potential threat, he didn't see the shocked but impressed expressions on their faces.

"I can't believe you wanted _me_ to fight him," whispered Leopard to Wolf, suddenly grateful that he had been interrupted.

"He's bloody good," whispered Eagle, "Where do you think he learnt?"

Wolf shrugged and continued to watch the fight with interest. Cub was admittedly _very _good, he was blocking every single one of Aikema's attacks and even managing to retaliate. However Wolf didn't think that the man was going full out. Cub _was_ just a kid after all. The fact that if Cub had fought like that against Leopard, he would be dead by now, was carefully not registered in Wolf's head.

He winced as Cub was knocked to the floor by a particularly brutal back kick that had crashed through the kid's block, but it turned into surprise as the kid's feet met Aikema's stomach and he flipped himself upright.

Aikema fell back and Cub followed suit, out of breath.

"Good," said Aikema. "You are improving. Where should you aim if you want to knock someone unconscious?"

"The side of the neck, behind the ear, the temple," listed Cub.

"And if you want to kill someone?"

Upon hearing these words, K-Unit paled. The kid was being taught to kill with one blow?

"Break the nose straight on. The shards of bone will be pushed back into the brain. Or a kick to the side of the chin, if you have the strength to snap their neck."

Aikema nodded. "Good. Finish with K-Unit today. I will see you after dinner tonight for an economics lesson."

Alex nodded and Aikema turned to leave, then paused and spoke to Leopard. "You speak Russian, do you not?"

Leopard nodded, nonplussed.

"Good. Cub, for the rest of the day, you are only to converse in Russian. Leopard can translate anything you say."

Wolf could see the slight twitch of a frown forming on Cub's face – probably annoyance at his task – but the kid quickly smoothed it out and nodded.

Wolf felt a small smile tug at his lips. Apparently Aikema knew exactly how to control Cub. He really had to find out what these punishments were.

***

_A/N: Ok, so if you're all really nice and REVIEW, I might just update early. :D_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Yep! I'm updating early. Why? Because I got a lot of wonderful reviews and... because I haven't finished Failing Hands chapter 2 and I'm hoping that if I give you all this, you won't kill me for that. Deal?_

_Disclaimer: Some things are priceless, for everything else there is mastercard. Unfortunately, Alex Rider is one of the things you can't buy with mastercard. Trust me, I would know._

_***_

Mrs Jones walked slowly towards Alan Blunt's office, the single sheet of paper in her hand weighing her down as if it were a ten tonne weight. She knocked once and entered, the click of her heels muffled on the thin, institutional carpet.

Alan looked up as she entered. "Mrs Jones," he said. To many he seemed expressionless, but Mrs Jones had worked with him long enough for her to recognise the barest hint of warmth in his tone. In any other situation, she would have given him a small smile. But it wasn't any other situation and many innocent lives were at stake.

"Alan," she began hesitantly, and the warmth instantly vanished, to be replaced by worry.

"Mrs Jones. What is the situation?"

"We received this, about half an hour ago. No messenger was seen and there is no doubt as to the sender: Scorpia."

Alan reached out a hand and took the letter. He read the two brief lines and frowned.

_To catch a 'hero', threaten innocents.  
To catch a teenager, threaten his friends._

"We will have to protect them," said Mrs Jones.

"Of course, but we do not have the agents available to do so if they continue with their normal lives. They will have to be moved elsewhere."

"You cannot mean our normal method of protection, Alan. It's crazy to send a bunch of school children there!"

"I do not see that we have an alternative, Mrs Jones," said Alan calmly. "And we have a much more pressing question to seek the answer to."

Mrs Jones frowned slightly as she looked at him.

"Why," he said, a frown marring his normally smooth brow, "are they giving us warning?"

***

Today had been a bad day. Alex would be the first to admit it. For the last week, Aikema had kept up his Russian-only edict, and K-Unit had become increasingly cruel about his many mistakes. Alex felt they were being completely unfair as he had only been learning the language for two weeks, but unable to suitably curse them in the foreign language, he settled for speaking as little as possible. This seemed to backfire slightly as it simply gave Wolf more ammo to hurl at him.

The SAS training, combined with Aikema's additional assignments, was fast driving him into the ground and, although he had so far managed to keep up, he was slowly getting slower and slower and Wolf's sneers were getting more and more pronounced.

And now he had just finished his punishment for a minor infraction - an hour supporting himself upside down, hand-stand style, over a tree branch. His arms were killing him and the meal he had missed was preying on his empty stomach.

It was perhaps, then, understandable that when he walked into the hut, he wanted to simply relax, catch up on his homework and be ignored by his unit. But Alex was used to not getting what he wanted by now. It was probably a good thing.

He walked into the room and crossed quickly to his bunk, pulling out his maths textbook and turning to the subject he had been studying earlier that day. He had only got half way down the page when he realised that Wolf was staring at him, an annoyed, malicious expression plastered across his features.

"So why are you here, Cub?" he asked, intently.

Alex ignored him, trying to concentrate on the calculus in front of him. He understood the basics, but as soon as he had to start integrating ln(x) he was pretty sure he had gone wrong. He let out a frustrated sigh and crossed out his working.

"Hey!" exclaimed Wolf, angrily. "I asked you a question!"

Alex blinked. "I'm sorry what?"

"I said, why are you here? Didn't your guardian want you anymore?" he sneered nastily.

Abruptly, Alex stood and walked out of the hut, ignoring the rain. Wolf followed him, relentless to the end.

"What happened, Cub? Drive her away? Just like you drove everyone else away, I bet. I've seen you're file. Two friends, Cub? That's sad. And one of them is in America. Drive her away just like you did with Jack? Why did they go? What did you do to them?"

Suddenly, Alex snapped and spun around, sinking a fist deep into Wolf's stomach. "Don't you _dare_ talk about her," hissed Alex.

Wolf's eyes widened as he found himself facing, not a teenager shoved into the SAS, but an enraged MI6 agent. One of MI6's _top_ agents.

He raised a fist hurriedly to block the kick flying his way, but failed to block the punch that hammered into his side moments later.

He swore loudly in pain and was relieved to hear Snake, Eagle and Leopard come out of the hut behind them, just in time to see him concede a kick to the hip. With a startled exclamation, Snake darted forward to intercept another blow, quickly followed by Eagle and Leopard when they realised exactly how dangerous Cub was.

The blows were coming fast and furious now, though Alex could barely see his opponent through the veil of red that seemed to have lowered itself over his eyes. He was vaguely aware of three more men joining the fight, but he focused all of his energies upon his original opponent, striking out with all the force he could manage. He knew he could end the fight whenever he chose, could kill his opponent if he felt like it, but he didn't want to, yet. He wanted to hurt him, punish him.

He was aware of his blows getting stronger and stronger, and more and more and erratic. His anger grew and his skill decreased. He didn't even notice Aikema step up behind him, didn't register him at all until his hand closed around the vein on his neck. Alex sank into unconsciousness.

***

Aikema turned to Wolf.

"What did you say to him?" he asked, his voice icy with rage.

Wolf shifted uncomfortably. "I was just asking him why he is here. I wanted to know why his guardian left him."

Aikema closed his eyes momentarily as his face hardened. "His guardian is _dead_."

Wolf paled and, behind him, Snake, Eagle and Leopard turned stony-faced.

"Ah shit," muttered Leopard.

Aikema sighed and gestured to the boy lying motionless on the ground. "Take him to the infirmary and make sure he doesn't leave. I think the Sergeant will want to talk to him when he wakes up."

"The Sergeant?" asked Wolf.

"The Sergeant," confirmed Aikema, nodding over Wolf's shoulder, where a very irate man was fast approaching.

"Wolf!" yelled the Sergeant. "What the _hell _is going on here?"

"I- ah, erm... well you see..." stammered Wolf.

"Cub and Wolf got into a fight," stated Aikema. "I had to intervene and knock Cub out before he did some serious damage."

"A _fight?_ You're supposed to be a damn _team!_ What part of that don't you understand?!"

"I believe that, while Cub _was_ provoked, he was also the one who started the fight," interrupted Aikema, quietly.

The Sergeant glowered.

"Two weeks of punishment duty," said the Sergeant finally. "And a night in solitary. Cub will have the same treatment."

"Actually, Sergeant," said Aikema, once more interrupting. "I would like to oversee Cub's punishment myself."

The Sergeant looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you intend for him to do?"

"He will be spending the night in solitary. He will stay there for twenty-four hours after he wakes up. After that he will continue with the other punishments I set for him."

"Other punishments?" asked the Sergeant, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. You can be assured that they will be more severe than punishment duty."

The Sergeant looked at him for a moment, then nodded his consent. "Very well. You shall be in charge of Cub's punishment. How long will said punishment last?"

Aikema looked at him with unreadable eyes.

"Until he has learnt his lesson."

***

Alex groaned as his body protested to the hard, cold surface he was lying on. He tried to remember how he had got there, but his brain came up blank. The last thing he remembered was a hot rush of anger and a feeling of control slipping away.

He raised a hand to his head and kneaded it in an attempt to clear it. Failing that he sat up and looked around the room.

It was bare, excessively so. Stone floor, white walls and a distinct lack of furniture made it perfectly clear that he was in some kind of cell and he briefly recalled the mention of solitary cells when he was being shown around.

"Ah shit," he muttered, pulling himself of the floor. Whatever he had done – and he was getting flashes of a fight slowly seeping back into his consciousness – it must have been bad. He just hoped his opponent was ok.

In the absence of anything else to do, he set about stretching out his aching muscles. He really shouldn't have lost control. Not only were the consequences often dire for his opponent, but it always left his body stiff and unruly and _painful_.

He bit his lip as he pushed his legs apart and pressed his elbows to the floor. _Gods_ this hurt. He sighed and spread his legs another two inches.

Someone clearing their throat behind him made him jump and his knees, finally bending, crashed painfully into the stone floor before he rose smoothly to his feet, not showing the pain he felt from his cramping muscles.

"Snake," he greeted the man standing in the now-open doorway.

"Cub," said Snake coldly.

"Are you ok?" asked Alex, taking in a livid bruise tracing its way up the soldier's cheek.

Snake nodded silently.

"And the others? Who was I fighting to start with?"

Snake blinked. "You don't remember?"

Alex shook his head slowly, "Barely. Just flashes really."

The soldier frowned. "You do realise that that probably isn't a good thing."

Alex shrugged. "So who was it?"

"Wolf."

Alex paled a bit. "Oh gods, he's going to kill me. Is he ok?"

"A bit bruised, but Aikema stepped in before you could do serious damage."

Alex nodded slightly, relieved by the news. "Why are you here? I'm pretty sure solitary means that you aren't supposed to get visitors."

"It does," said Snake. "I was coming to give you a check up after your fight."

Alex sighed and submitted to the ministrations of the medic. The medical was conducted in silence until...

"Cub! What is _that?!"_

Alex glanced up, to see Snake staring at his bullet wound.

"You know what it is," he said calmly.

"Well yeah, but how did you get it? And what about all these other scars? What have you been _doing?"_

"Classified," said Alex, an emotionless mask settling over his face.

"How old is it?" asked Snake, anger obvious on his face.

"I'm fine. It happened at the end of last September."

Snake pursed his lips. "And what about this one?" he asked, indicating a livid red scar that trailed down across Alex's stomach. "It looks as though someone tried to gut you! You aren't going to tell me that that happened last September, are you?"

"No, that one was given to me at the start of May."

"_How?!"_

"A maniac with a knife, and no I can't give you more detail than that."

Snake continued his examination in silence, his fury increasing with every fresh scar he found. Alex refused to explain, and Snake stormed out of the room when he was finished, the door slamming shut behind him.

***

_A/N: Oh, come on, you know you want to press that little button and review!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: So yeah, you're probably all going to hate Aikema after this chapter. He isn't evil, I swear, just very, very, very strict... and a little extreme. And aren't you happy? Two update's in a week! I'll update on Saturday again. I'm going to try and give you two update's a week because I am going away on the 10__th__ for five weeks and I have twenty something chapters right now... I'm not quite sure how I'm going to end it yet, but I know what is going to happen before the end, and it doesn't look too far off, I might just be the first person to finish writing one of these fics... _

_DISCLAIMER: If I owned Alex Rider, this wouldn't be _fan_fiction now, would it?_

_***_

Leopard looked up, alarmed, as Snake stormed into the hut.

"What's wrong?" he asked, apprehensively.

"Cub!" snarled Snake. "The boy must be suicidal or something! He got _shot_ in the _heart._ He looks as though someone tried to gut him. Repeatedly! He is covered with scars! I'm amazed he isn't _dead_ already!"

"Woah! Woah!" said Eagle. "Calm down. How did you find this out?"

Snake drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I went to give Cub a medical after the fight. Good job too, the kid was as bruised as hell. But he was also covered in scars. Like, serious scars. A bullet wound right over his heart for Christ's sake! And when I try and find out about _any_ of them, all I get is '_classified'! _I had to yell at him to even get a_ date_ for most of them!"

Leopard dodged Snake's wildly gesticulating hands and pressed the Scot into a seat, placing both hands firmly on Snake's shoulders. Slowly he felt the anger flow out of the soldier and some semblance of sanity return to his eyes.

Snake sagged. "I- I just... he's just a kid," he protested, lamely.

"Yeah," said Leopard, obviously subdued.

Eagle, meanwhile, was frowning. "Did anyone here actually try to _hit _Cub in the fight yesterday?" he asked, slowly. Both Leopard and Snake both shook their heads. "And does anyone remember seeing Wolf land a blow?" Again, the two soldiers shook their heads.

"So where the hell did the bruises come from?"

Snake's head shot up. "Good question," he growled.

***

Alex gasped as he pushed himself back up again. He had been doing press-ups over glowing embers for the last three hours and his arms were killing him. Every time he lowered himself down it got harder to push himself back up, but the burning heat ate away at his oxygen until he had no other option. The three concrete blocks that his hands and feet were resting on were rough on his sore hands, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could carry on.

Just before he thought he was actually about to collapse onto the burning coals, Aikema appeared before him.

"Get up," said the teacher, staring at Alex with cold eyes.

Gratefully, Alex manoeuvred himself off the blocks to stand on the normal ground, rain and sweat dripping off him in equal quantities.

"Do you understand why you are being punished?" asked Aikema.

"For starting a fight with my unit leader, sir," said Alex.

"No," said Aikema. "Your night in solitary was for starting a fight. Your punishments since have been for another reason entirely."

Alex frowned in weary confusion.

"Can you think of no reason?"

Alex sighed. "Because I lost control, sensei," he said finally.

Aikema nodded. "And I am going to teach you control, no matter what it takes. Tonight, you will support yourself on your arms in the trees by my hut. I will know if you do not. I will hear it. Is this understood?"

Alex nodded, unable to summon the energy to speak. The punishment for his disrespect was swift and brutal, sending him to the ground. He could already feel the bruise forming.

"Is that understood?" asked Aikema, as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, sensei," said Alex, respectfully.

***

Eagle looked up as Wolf entered, a scowl plastered across his face.

"Just got out of solitary?" asked the unfortunate soldier.

"No," snarled Wolf. "I got out three hours ago. I've had punishment duty ever since. And I've got it again tomorrow morning!"

Snake sat up. "Was Cub with you?"

"Why do you care about that little brat?" growled Wolf, anger flashing across his face again. "He's the reason I have six hours of punishment duty everyday for the next two weeks!"

"That 'little brat' is still a member of this team!" snapped Snake. "And you can't blame it entirely on him. I heard what you were saying – don't deny that you were deliberately provoking him!"

"He was trying to kill me!" exclaimed Wolf.

"If he was trying to kill you," said Snake, scornfully, "You would already be dead."

Wolf scowled.

"So was he with you?" reiterated Snake.

"No," grunted Wolf. "His teacher came and spirited him away when we were both let out."

Snake, Leopard and Eagle exchanged a significant look.

Wolf frowned and looked between them.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

Leopard leaned forward in his seat intently. "Did you land a blow on him during the fight?"

Wolf's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Gods, no. I was too busy trying to stop him landing a blow on _me._"

"Are you sure?" asked Eagle, his frown deepening.

"Of course I'm bloody sure!" snapped Wolf.

"So where the hell did the bruises come from?" growled Snake.

"What bruises?" asked Wolf.

"He was covered in them – and we have no idea how he got them."

"We'll ask him when he gets back," said Eagle quietly.

But Cub didn't come back. His bed stayed empty for the entire night and when the soldiers woke to the early morning sun, the sheets were still unmoved.

"Where is he?" asked Eagle, frowning.

"I don't know," said Snake, "but we'll see him at breakfast. The kid's got to eat, right?"

"Yeah... right," said Leopard slowly.

When Cub wasn't at breakfast, Leopard, Eagle and Snake approached Aikema. Wolf had disappeared to perform his punishment duty, but he was still furious at nearly being beaten in the fight and so probably wouldn't have come anyway.

"Where is he?" asked Snake, his concern obvious on his face.

Aikema frowned slightly, then his eyes widened in surprise and he turned on his heel, leaving the room without a word.

The three soldiers exchanged a frown and hurried after him.

They were just in time to see him stop outside his cabin and look up.

"Cub!" he called, and the three men looked up. There, almost hidden in the branches of the trees, was Cub, apparently doing a handstand.

"You can come down now!" called Aikema.

The boy dropped, turning in midair until he was the right way up and landing unsteadily on his feet.

Snake stepped forward, a concerned growl echoing from his throat.

"Come on, Cub. Breakfast."

"No," said Aikema. Snake looked at him incredulously. "He hasn't finished his punishment."

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Leopard.

"I assure you, I am deadly serious. Or have you forgotten that he almost killed your unit leader?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably behind his instructor.

"Well... yeah, but enough is enough! Surely you can't expect-"

But Aikema cut him off. "Expect what? Him to take responsibility for his actions? Him to remain in control when not doing so endangers, not only his life, but everyone around him? Yeah, I do."

Seeing that Snake looked suitably chastised, Aikema turned to Alex. "I will see you at the edge of the lake in five minutes, Cub."

Alex nodded and jogged silently off.

Aikema turned back to the soldiers. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

***

The soldiers didn't see Cub again until three hours later, when he met them at the start of the assault course. His t-shirt and hair were dripping wet, and his face pale. He avoided Wolf like the plague, and Wolf, still angry, ignored him.

There were five kilogram weights attached to his wrists, elbows, shoulders and ankles.

"What have you been doing?" demanded Eagle, roughly.

Cub tilted his head to one side slightly. "Sit-ups," he said, calmly.

"Yeah, right," snorted Eagle, disbelievingly. "And what are these?" He gestured to the weights bound close to Cub's limbs.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "What do they look like?"

"There must be forty kilograms of weight there!" exclaimed Snake.

Alex looked down. "That would be about right."

"You haven't eaten in over forty eight hours and I'm willing to bet that the last time you slept was when Aikema knocked you unconscious, and now you're joining us on the assault course with extra weights?!"

Alex inclined his head slightly.

"Jesus!" exclaimed Eagle. "What is he thinking? All you did was get in a fight."

Alex's eyes were opaque and unreadable. "I can't afford to lose control," he said. "It could be the last thing I do. It could have been the last thing Wolf did."

His eyes may have been unreadable, but all of them could read his mute shame in the line of his shoulders, and the way he avoided looking at Wolf, despite the man now staring at him, intently.

"Come on," grunted Wolf. "Let's get this over with."

Alex sighed and the five of them set off over the course.

***

It was dark, dinner had been and gone and Snake was out looking for Cub. After the assault course, he had disappeared with Aikema towards the lake and no one had seen hide or hair of him since.

And Snake was worried. He didn't trust Aikema with Cub. Not that he thought that Aikema would actually try to _harm_ Cub, but he was just a kid – he shouldn't be coming back with those kinds of bruises.

And so to ease his troubled conscience, he was sneaking down to the lake to find the kid he had bullied mercilessly last time he had trained with him. The fact that he had – mistakenly – thought that he was just a spoilt brat at the time was little comfort. What bothered Snake most was Wolf's reaction to the kid. Had the kid had the entire unit behind him, then things would have been very different, but with Wolf against him, things were discordant, the members of the group set against each other as they argued about Cub. They couldn't decide whether he was a part of their unit or not. He did most of the training with them, but did a significant amount separate from them. He would almost certainly not be going on missions with them. He was a teenager after all.

And yet... the kid needed them. He didn't have anyone else. There was a hardness to him that no child should possess, a complete lack of innocence that only comes from seeing the horrors of battle, from being forced to kill. And underneath it, a fierce determination to see the job finished, not because he had hope that it would make the world a better place, but because he had the knowledge that it would stop it getting any worse.

Cub couldn't really be called a child anymore – he had lost his childhood – but he definitely couldn't be called an adult, and he needed them to help him realise the difference.

Snake sighed and looked around him. During his musings, his feet had carried him forward so he was now just coming into view of the lake. The water was dark and cold. There was no sign of Cub.

There was, however, a dark figure that could have been Aikema standing on the edge of the jetty. Snake walked forward slowly, frowning slightly as he realised that it was indeed Aikema on the jetty, but that Cub was nowhere near. Maybe he was swimming in the water?

Aikema was shouting something and, as he drew closer, Snake recognised it as the mindless yelling that was used to try and intimidate the new recruits. But why would he be yelling if Cub wasn't close by?

A movement caught his eye, but vanished when he tried to focus on it.

There it was again!

Snake's yes widened in shock as he realised what the dark shape hanging off the edge of the peer was: Cub. His legs were pinned to the jetty from the knees and he was doing sit-ups. At the lowest point, he was hanging vertically down with his head and shoulders submerged in the icy water.

He walked onto the end of the jetty. By now he could make out the pasty whiteness and tense lines that made up Cub's face. He was obviously in a lot of pain and Aikema either didn't notice or didn't care.

Snake walked up until he was standing just behind Aikema then spoke.

"Don't you think that he should stop soon?" he said, quietly, fairly sure that Cub wouldn't be able to hear.

"No," said Aikema flatly. "I don't think he has learnt his lesson yet."

"And when will he have 'learnt his lesson'?!" demanded Snake angrily. "When he drops dead from exhaustion? When he lands himself in hospital for malnutrition? He's just a kid!"

"And he has to learn the consequences of his actions," said Aikema, calmly.

Snake glared at the man, threateningly and Aikema sighed. "Cub?" he called. "Come up here a minute."

Alex almost groaned aloud as he struggled to climb onto the jetty. His entire body was aching and his shoulders screamed in protest as he reached forward to grab the edge. _Gods_, it hurt.

But he was taken by surprise as a pair of strong hands reached down and gently pulled him onto the wooden boards. Alex smiled his thanks to the world at large and slowly clambered to his feet. It was Snake who had helped him up, and he was also, obviously, the owner of the raised voice that Alex had heard, but not paid attention to, letting it wash over him, largely ignored in his exhaustion.

"Snake," he greeted the soldier quietly.

"Cub," said Snake, just as quietly, a light crease of concern visible on his forehead.

Aikema interrupted. "Cub, do you remember what you did?"

Alex paled visibly and nodded. "Yes, Sensei." How could he forget?

"Do you feel that you have been punished enough?"

Alex shook his head quickly. "No, Sensei."

How could he have been punished enough? He had nearly killed his unit leader! He could be punished for the rest of his –probably depressingly short – life and it still wouldn't be _enough_.

Aikema transferred his penetrating gaze to Snake. "I think it is time for you to leave," he commanded quietly.

Snake glared at him and stalked off. What was wrong with that kid?!

***

_A/N: Ok, so I'm really interested to see what you thought of this. Please Review!_


	8. Chapter 8

_DISCLAIMER: Not mine._

***

Eagle blinked as Snake burst through the door and into the hut, anger clear in his expression and his jerky gait.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

"Cub!" snarled Snake.

"Again?" murmured Leopard, his voice heavy with amusement.

"Yes. Again!" snapped the soldier, obviously irritated. "Have you any idea what he's been doing for these 'punishments'?!"

Eagle, Leopard and Wolf all shook their heads and Snake growled audibly.

"No. Of course you don't."

"He deserves it," muttered Wolf, still irritated about the fight.

Snake snapped.

"Oh so he _deserves_ to spend hours doing sit ups off the edge of the peer? He _deserves_ to be forced over the assault course with forty kilos of extra weight? Oh, thank god for that. And here was me thinking it was nothing more than child abuse!"

"He _is_ being punished," snapped Wolf, irritated though slightly taken aback. Was it really just abuse?

"He hasn't eaten or slept in _two days!_" yelled Snake. Then suddenly he seemed to sag and slowly sat down on the bed. "And you know the worst part?" he said quietly, his voice laden with worry and sadness. "He thinks he _deserves_ it. He _wants_ to be punished. He'll let Aikema run him in to the very _dirt_ without a word of protest. In fact he'd probably feel guilty if Aikema _stopped!_"

"I'm sorry... What?" said Leopard disbelievingly.

Snake nodded despairingly.

"What on earth?" said Eagle slowly.

"We should talk to him," said Leopard.

"_Should? _We _have_ to – he's going to kill himself!"

"Oh come on! Surely you're exaggerating!" said Wolf, disbelievingly.

Snake shook his head seriously and Wolf frowned.

"We have to do something."

***

They went to find Aikema, not really having a plan. They had no clue as to what 'something' was, but they knew that they had to stop these abusive punishments. Cub was, after all, a member of their team, despite Wolf's frequent commiserations over the fact. And this time it wasn't just Snake. It was all four of them and hopefully it would make all the difference having Wolf on their side.

They found Aikema in his hut.

"Where is Cub?" growled Wolf. He still thought that the kid shouldn't be here, but he wasn't about to let _an_yonetreat a member of _his_ team like that.

"He is being punished," said Aikema.

"Where?"

"That," said Aikema, coldly, "Is none of your business. Please leave."

Not having much of a choice, the team filed out.

"Well," said Eagle, frowning. "What now?"

"Now?" said Snake. "We search."

***

It took them two hours two find Cub. He was about ten metres off the floor and braced between two buildings – his shoulders against one wall and his feet pushing on the other. His face was even paler than it had been before and when they called out to him first, there was no response. Only when Wolf yelled for him to get his 'sorry arse' down from there did they get a reaction.

"Wolf?" said Cub, confusion and exhaustion obvious in his voice.

"Yeah, come down here, ok? We need to talk."

Obediently, Cub dropped to the ground in front of them, though Snake wasn't sure how much of a difference it made. Cub's eyes seemed to be drooping closed where he stood.

"Cub?" he said quietly, and the kid's eyes snapped open.

"You need to sleep," said Snake, a frown of concern creasing his forehead.

Stubbornly, Cub shook his head.

"'m bein' punished," he muttered, sullenly.

"I think you've been punished enough," growled Wolf, incensed at the exhaustion obvious in the teen's face. "Even the actual soldiers don't have punishments like this! It's sick! It's wrong! It's... Are you even listening to me?"

Apparently Cub wasn't, as he didn't even look up at Wolf's exclamation.

"Cub!" shouted Wolf.

Still no response.

"Cub?" said Snake, worriedly.

He reached out and shook the boys shoulder. Cub swayed back into position, then swayed further forward and fell over.

Leopard swore and caught him. Snake, along with the other three men, looked down at the kid held in his team mate's arms.

He was fast asleep.

"Jesus..." breathed Eagle.

"Come on," said Wolf, gruffly. "Let's get him back to the bunk. Eagle, can you tell Aikema that as his unit leader I am ordering Cub off these punishments for at least forty-eight hours, and if he has a problem with that I'll call the police and have him arrested for child abuse."

Eagle nodded and hurried off, as Snake, Leopard, Wolf and their unconscious charge made their way back to the barracks.

"You think he'll be ok?" asked Leopard, as he lay him on his bunk.

Snake nodded. "If he gets enough sleep, and if he eats a good breakfast, he should be fine in the morning."

Leopard looked at Wolf. "Don't you have punishment duty about now?"

Wolf swore colourfully and stalked out of the room.

***

Eagle knocked then pushed open the door to Aikema's room.

"Eagle," said the man.

"Aikema, Wolf has asked me to inform you that he has removed Cub from your instruction for at least the next forty eight hours."

Aikema raised an eyebrow. "May I inquire as to why?" he asked.

They were both being very formal. This may not be unusual for Aikema, but in Eagle it was a sure sign that he was angry.

"Cub collapsed," said Eagle bluntly.

"Ah," said Aikema as Eagle turned back towards the door.

When he reached it, he paused and turned back, confusion obvious on his face.

"Why did you do it?" he asked, miserably.

Aikema sighed. "Alex felt exceedingly guilty about starting the fight with Wolf. Tell me, Eagle. If someone feels guilty about something, and if they are not punished, or punished enough in their eyes, do you think they will ever overcome their guilt?"

Eagle frowned, obviously troubled by the answer. Silently, he left the room.

***

Alex woke to an empty room. As loathe as they were to leave him unattended, K-Unit had been called away to perform a night exercise. Silver moonlight shone through the window from the – amazingly – clear night outside, lending a silver, ghostly air to the room and throwing shadows into monstrous proportions.

Alex sighed and slumped back onto his pillow. The room was quiet and he focused his attention on the distant noises of the night. A fox barked somewhere nearby and in the far distance, he could make out the indistinct noises of gunshots and shouts from the night's activity. He rolled his eyes and smiled in the dark. They were noisier than a bunch of school children. Didn't they know _anything _of stealth?

Slowly he sat up and leaned against the wall, toying with the idea of sneaking into the cafeteria for some food, he was feeling light headed without it.

He started to slump to the side and quickly sat up and shook his head, trying to clear it. Big mistake. He was already dizzy and the sudden movement landed him flat back on the mattress. He huffed in annoyance, but didn't bother trying to sit up again. The others would be back soon.

He started listening to the activity again, chuckling when he heard a distinctive high-pitched yelp. Sounded as if someone had just been hit where it hurt most.

The sudden crack of a twig snapped his attention back to his immediate surroundings, straining to hear for the intruder. Silence. Complete and utter silence, unbroken by the slightest noise. He strained his ears further.

Nothing...

Wait... was that? No.

But...

Alex though he heard a very faint, hoarse breathing. But surely he was imagining it? Maybe it was his own?

He closed his eyes and tried to relax, forcing his heart and breathing to slow, to quiet. Still, was that a breath? Or simply a faint breeze? No-one could be that quiet, could they?

He jumped as he heard laughter and heavy footsteps approaching then recognised the distinctive gait of K-Unit. Slowly he pushed himself up into a sitting position and silently berated himself.

_Jesus_, he was starting to creep himself out. He was safe here. That was why they had sent him here for Christ's sake! He had to stop imagining threats.

Still, he didn't fully relax until the door was opened and Leopard stepped into view.

"Hey," he smiled, taking in his unit's mud-covered appearance.

"Hey yourself, kid," grinned Leopard.

"If you get any of that mud on me, I'll kill you," warned Alex as Snake crossed swiftly to his side.

Snake spared him a quick, tight smile then gripped Alex's chin firmly and turned his face towards him. The medic felt his pulse and checked his pupils, then asked, "How do you feel?"

"Fine," was the reply.

"Light headed at all? Dizziness?"

"A bit," admitted Alex.

"Leopard, I'm stealing from your secret stash," announced Snake, crossing to his team mate's bunk and rummaging through his belongings.

Leopard simply nodded and Snake straightened up with something in his hand. He handed the something to Alex, and he looked down to find himself clutching –

"Dairy milk?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Leopard grinned, shame-faced. "I've got a sweet tooth, ok?"

Alex grinned back and ripped open the wrapper, sinking his teeth impatiently into the deliciously sweet treat.

"You do realise you just completely ruined your whole tough-SAS-man image, right?" he said around a mouthful of chocolate.

"Meh," shrugged Leopard. "Never really had that going for me in the first place, did I?"

Alex grinned and polished off the chocolate.

"Thanks, guys," he said, finally. "I needed that."

The four men smiled their acceptance, even Wolf, which confused Alex slightly. He shook his head slightly in confusion, then turned back to Snake.

"So... what did you tell Aikema? When does he want to see me next?" asked Alex with trepidation.

Leopard and Eagle smirked as Snake replied.

"Wolf told him that you were having forty eight hours without any interference on his part, and if you _didn't _get that then he would go to the police about child abuse. Wolf can apparently be quite protective when he's angry."

Alex blinked. "Wolf?" he asked incredulously.

Snake nodded, and Wolf flushed slightly.

"I may have been a bit of an arse-" said Wolf.

"A bit?" muttered Leopard, disbelievingly.

"- but no-one gets to treat a member of my team like that," finished Wolf, as if he hadn't heard Leopard.

Eagle grinned. "I'm impressed, Cub. That's the closest I've heard Wolf get to an apology since I met him!"

"Hey! I know when I'm wrong," protested Wolf.

The other three soldiers raised their eyebrows and laughed. "Yeah, right, Wolf" commented Snake. "You didn't admit you were wrong when you managed to get yourself _shot_ in Iraq!"

"People get shot in Iraq every day," defended Wolf.

"By the _Americans."_

Alex fell asleep to the sound of laughter and angry mutterings from Wolf, a smile on his lips.

***

"What do we tell the children about Alex?" asked Mrs Jones, once again discussing the Rider-Scorpia situation with her boss. "You have manipulated them into believing that he is in prison."

Blunt frowned in thought. After a moment, he said, "Now could be the perfect opportunity to send him for that diving course. That should take a week, and by that point the situation in Paraguay should come to a head and it should be the perfect time to send him in. By the time he comes back from that, we should have the situation under control."

Mrs Jones frowned. "I thought we agreed that Agent Kimball could handle that situation? Alex has just lost his guardian. He's been dragged away from everything he has ever known. It's too soon!"

Blunt looked at her over the top of his wire-rimmed glasses. "Needs must," he said. "But we will have to be careful. They cannot run into him. And, more importantly, _he_ cannot run into _them._"

***

_A/N: Ok, so I had mixed reactions to whether his class should go to Brecon Beacons or not, but it was needed for one of the plot twists that I have planned so sorry to those of you who didn't want them to go, but it becomes more interesting this way- just trust me on this._

_In other news... I have officially FINISHED writing this story, so updates will be regular... except that I go away for five weeks a week tomorrow, so... yeah no updates then. Don't worry though, I promise there will be an update on the 17__th__ of August, and I'll try to get as many chapters as I can up before then._

_I'll update on Sunday if you're all very nice and REVIEW!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: so I said I would update today, and I am! Next update will be on Tuesday, if you're all very nice and review! Oh, and use your heads, do you _really _think I own Alex Rider?_

***

"K-Unit, Report to the office!" yelled the Sergeant into the mess hall.

The unit exchanged curious looks and rose from their seats, quickly clearing their dishes and heading towards the exit. Alex, unsure of whether the Sergeant meant him as well, tagged along.

When the five of them were stood outside the office, Wolf turned to the rest of them.

"Any ideas what this could be about?" he asked, gruffly.

"Unless it's about Cub and his punishments – and what you said to Aikema – then not a clue," said Eagle, unhelpfully.

Snake, Leopard and Alex all shook their heads, nonplussed.

Wolf sighed. "I hate not knowing what I'm heading into," he grumbled and pushed open the door.

"Good, you're here," said the Sergeant as they entered.

"You are being sent on a Scuba diving training course in Spain. You will leave this afternoon. Any questions?"

"Why us, sir?" asked Wolf, frowning slightly.

The Sergeant's eyes flickered slightly towards Alex, but he answered simply, "Luck of the draw, Gentlemen. Now hurry up and get packed."

***

Tom looked up as two people walked into the class room. One was the teacher, nothing exciting there, but the second was outfitted with combat gear and had a gun not-so-surreptitiously placed in a holster on his hip.

"Good morning class," said the teacher. "As you can see, we have a guest today. This is Mr..."

"Fox," supplied the man and the teacher raised an eyebrow, though he quickly lowered it when the man looked at him.

"This is Fox," corrected the teacher. "He is here to talk to you about a new government initiative."

"Thank you," said Fox. "The government feels that there is not enough interest in joining the armed forces, so you will – all of you – be going to an army camp in Wales. You have the day off in which to pack – I have recommended lists here – and then you will return here at four o'clock to begin the journey. Your parents have already been sent – and signed – the appropriate consent forms. Are there any questions?" Several hands were raised. "No?" said Fox, looking around questioningly. "Good. I will see you at four."

With that, he walked out of the classroom, leaving a class of very confused students behind him.

The teacher coughed. "Well... you heard the man. Be by the gates at four o'clock..." He shook his head slightly. "I suggest that you are not late – the army are not known for their tolerance of people who are not punctual."

The class exchanged glances, then as one stood and rushed to the door. They were missing school, they didn't really care why.

Only Tom remained at his desk, a frown on his face. Something was wrong here. For a start Fox – or probably Ben Daniels, he realised – was almost certainly a part of MI6 and that meant the SAS and he very much doubted that a 'government initiative' would send them to an SAS camp.

This had something to do with Alex and the reason he had left school, he was sure of it.

***

Alex stepped off the plane into the sunshine and smiled. It was good to be somewhere where the sun actually shone, instead of simply there being the occasional lack of rain. He quickly descended the rickety steps and caught up with the other soldiers who grinned at him.

He was in the warm, summer sunshine and would be spending a week by the coast with no drills, no studies and with four men who, while not friends exactly, were willing to make the effort and had accepted him as much as they were able. It was going to be a good week, he predicted, a smile on his face.

***

When Tom saw Brecon Beacons for the first time, he barely suppressed a groan. It was everything Alex had said and worse. Through the apparently constant drizzle, he could make out mud and huts covered in mud and grim-faced soldiers, some also covered in mud. Even the greenery surrounding the place seemed depressingly mud-like. How had Alex put up with this for ten days on his own? Tom was surprised he hadn't still been washing mud out of his hair last week!

"Atten-tion!" bellowed a voice and Tom turned to see a man striding towards them, a look of pure anger plastered across his scowling features. None of the students moved, simply looking at the man blankly. Fox snapped to attention behind them.

"When I say attention, you stand to attention!" bellowed the Sergeant. "I am not here to molly-coddle you. I don't care if you feel you can't do something, you will obey my every order! This camp has never been used to train children before and it never should be. I may not be able to bin you because of why you are here, but I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell if you do not follow my orders to the letter! Do you understand?!"

Tom sighed. This was going to be a _long_ trip.

***

Alex was completely and utterly right when he thought that it would be a good week. The sun stayed out and the water was warm and sparkling in the summer weather. Even Wolf had relaxed from his stiff SAS persona and the soldiers were treating this more as a paid vacation than a serious training exercise. Even his nightmares had left him alone, banished by his physical exhaustion from a day of somehow relaxing exercise or possibly simply because of the change of location. It seemed impossible for anything MI6 related to bother him here, despite the fact that they were probably responsible for it.

Today was their last day. They had all passed the test the previous day and were now taking advantage of this one final day of gorgeous sunshine to explore the surrounding reefs for the last time. There was a wreck about two kilometres off the coast of the island where they were stationed and they had unanimously decided to explore it. Which was why Alex found himself on the side of a small speed boat packed with equipment and the four bulky bodies of his unit.

There was a splash to his left as Leopard entered the water. Another to his right signalled Eagle following him swiftly in. Alex checked his weights once more, covered his mask and respirator with one hand and plunged backwards off the edge of the boat.

The water closed swiftly over his face and his hollow breathing echoed around him. He looked around the alien, underwater world and saw Leopard his buddy for this dive, approaching.

He made the universal sign for 'you ok?' and, when Leopard nodded, signalled for them to descend.

The wreck was awe-inspiring. It wasn't deep and the watery light that filtered down illuminated things so differently than at the surface, giving everything a faded opulence that the cargo ship probably hadn't even had in its glory days.

After twenty minutes, Leopard signalled to Alex and the two slowly made their way towards the exit. Leopard pulled up short in front of him, and Alex stopped, curiously. Leopard seemed to shrug, then change direction and had for the alternative exit. It was a little further away, but not dangerously so.

Alex looked at what had caused his buddy to change direction – and froze.

There, blocking the entrance, were the startling blue tentacles of something Alex knew only too well – a Portuguese man o' war.

Instantly he tensed, remembering the last time he had seen one. He could see the blurred room beyond the glass. He could hear the faint whir as the electric current was turned on. His breath started coming in short, sharp pants. He could feel his whole body tense as the adrenalin pumped through him. He had to get out of here!

The stones... no they didn't work. Shit! How was he supposed to get out of here?

He wasn't aware of his respirator dropping from his mouth. He didn't notice as Leopard shook him roughly and forced it back in. He didn't feel himself being pulled upwards. All sensation was consumed by panic.

He couldn't breathe! He needed fresh air, now!

Something made contact with the side of his face, hard, and Alex shuddered. He blinked slowly, looking around him.

He was back on the boat, with Snake looking concernedly down at him, Wolf, Leopard and Eagle just behind. His cheek was aching from a roughly delivered blow and fresh, clean air was flooding his lungs. He looked around in confusion, unsure of what had happened.

Leopard opened his mouth to speak.

"What the _hell _was that?!"

***

_A/N: Ok, so I had to choose between wiki and Horrowitz for the whole man of war thing. According to wiki they can be found in thousands, at least if I read the right article while Sayle said something about it being a loner like him... so I'm going with the loner because it works better. Any problems with that? No? good!_

_Oh, and don't forget to review!_


	10. Chapter 10

_DISCLAIMER: I am only borrowing these characters from Anthony Horrowitz. I promise to return them unharmed... mostly at least._

***

For a moment, Alex didn't say anything. He simply looked around, taking in the blue sparkling water, the shining sun and the distinct lack of any threat. The silence was only broken by the gentle lapping of the waves against the side of the boat.

Alex took a deep, shaking breath and sat up slowly.

"Cub?" asked Snake, gently.

"Nothing," he muttered. "It doesn't matter."

"Nothing?!" spat Wolf, angrily. "That was sure as hell not _nothing_, Cub!"

"That was a panic attack," said Snake, curtly. "What brought it on?"

Alex bit his lip. How could he tell them he suffered from vivid flashbacks brought on at the slightest thing? They'd only just started to accept him. He couldn't let them see how weak he really was.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied calmly, looking straight into Snake's eyes.

"You're a good liar, Cub, but I'm not buying it," said Snake, harshly, before turning to Leopard. "You were there; any ideas?"

Leopard shrugged unhelpfully. "We were just leaving. I turned towards the exit, the way we came in, but as I approached I saw some kind of tentacles blocking it. I didn't know how poisonous they were so I headed towards the other exit. I thought Alex was right behind me, but when I turned around, he was several metres away and... well, you saw him when I brought him up. I shoved the respirator back in his mouth and got him up here as quickly as possible."

Snake turned back to Alex. "Do you know what was blocking the door way?" he asked.

Alex nodded silently.

"What?"

"Portuguese man o' war," he muttered, looking away from the medic.

"Have you run into one of them before?" asked Snake, gently.

Alex stiffened involuntarily. He could still almost see the aquarium, the silent giant, Nadia Vole's twitching corpse.

"Cub!" snapped Snake and Alex blinked. The scene faded as he focused on the present.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"I'll take that as a yes, shall I?" asked Snake, frowning.

Alex gave up. They had already seen the effects. They already knew how weak he was.

He nodded.

"What happened?"

He opened his mouth, but the tale stuck in his throat. He didn't want to talk about it. It felt like talking about it would make it real. Validate it somehow. As it was he could, at least most of the time, pretend it hadn't happened.

He felt that way about most of his missions, if he was honest. It probably wasn't healthy – in fact he was pretty sure it was a textbook case of denial – but he was dealing with it, wasn't he? What more could they ask?

"Cub?" asked Eagle, bending down concernedly and placing a hand on the teens shoulder in a vain attempt to reassure him.

"My first mission," gasped out Alex. "Captured... they... dropped me into an aquarium with... with..."

"With a man of war," finished Snake, a look of horror crossing his face.

Alex nodded and hung his head.

"Sorry," he muttered, quietly.

"There's nothing to apologise for," said Wolf, emphatically. "You did nothing wrong."

"Do you have flashbacks often?" asked Snake.

_All the time,_ thought Alex. Anything seemed to set him off. But he wasn't about to tell them that.

"No," he said quietly. "Not a lot."

Snake nodded and stood up.

"We have a few hours until we need to leave," said Eagle, standing up as well. "How about we ditch the sea? I here there is a nice village a few miles inland. We can put all our stuff in the car and go straight to the airport from there."

The others smiled at Eagle. He sometimes acted like a kid, it was true, but he always did have good ideas for entertainment.

"Good idea," grunted Wolf. "I think I've had enough of salt water. Leopard, get us out of here, would you?"

***

Tom stood back carefully as he watched the final members of his class complete the assault course. They hadn't had to do the entire thing. The harder obstacles – the eight foot walls for example – had been optional, to make allowances for their age. And yet almost the entire class had taken well over thirty minutes to do it and were acting as if the sky had fallen in. If this was the same course that Alex had done – in its entirety - in seventeen minutes last time he was here, Tom was filled with admiration.

The final class member slowly jogged up, wheezing with every step and, as one, the class turned to Fox. He was scowling. He looked furious.

"That. Was. Pathetic," he spat. "If a real soldier put up that amount of protest they would be chucked out before they had set a foot across the starting line! I don't know what you think you were doing back there, but if you don't improve tomorrow, you will be running this course every day until you _do! _Got it?!"

There was a scattering of yessir's mumbled throughout the group as they studiously looked at the ground. Tom sighed as Fox continued to shout at them. It really had been a long week, and there was still no end in sight.

***

Alex quickly packed his parachute away. As they were on a plane anyway, it had been decided that they could have 'further training' by parachuting back into the base. They had landed in the middle of some woods, about two miles east of the base, and were now hiking back through the sparse undergrowth.

They walked in silence, a sombre melancholy settling over the group as the incessant rain soaked into their uniforms, the only sound the occasional wet snap of a stick and the endless beating of the rain.

And... shouting?

Alex lifted his head curiously.

"Can you hear that?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Behind him, Eagle frowned. "Sounds like..."

"Ben!" said Alex, grinning.

"Whose Ben?" asked Leopard, frowning.

"We'll explain later," said Wolf. "I want to see if the kid's right."

"That's Wolf's way of saying he misses him," said Snake in a stage whisper and the other soldiers cracked up.

Laughing, they headed towards the faux-angry yells.

"I wonder who he's yelling at?" said Leopard.

"I wonder why he's here?" said Wolf. "He was supposed to be working for-" he cut himself off and glanced at Alex, who laughed.

"Don't worry, Wolf, I already know where Fox went off to. If I didn't, don't you think I would have asked about Leopard by now?"

The leader grunted his agreement and the five entered the clearing.

Four of them pulled up in surprise. Alex froze completely.

"Rider?" spat a startled voice.

Alex looked around the clearing, unable to process what he was seeing. His class? _Here?_ What on earth?

Whatever it was, though, he knew it couldn't be good and he thought he might just have blown his cover. Through a haze of panic, shock and confusion, one thought made itself known.

_Oh... Shit._

***

_A/N: So I'm updating frequently because I'm going away. I still love reviews! *hint hint*_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Ok, so you have to love me. Just because you reviewed so nicely, I brought Perfectly Normal with me on a flash drive, along with a few other fics I'm working on and guess what – we have wifi. FREE wifi! Ok, so we probably aren't supposed to be on it, it's probably hacked, but we didn't mean to do it, and there wasn't a password... so... yeah, you're getting an update. Aren't you happy? Sorry, I'm babbling a bit – I'm jet lagged and I haven't had a decent night's sleep since Thursday. Two hours on the plane, two hours in the car and an hour in bed doesn't count as it was spread out over erm... I dno how many hours... a few? I seem to have lost a day somewhere as it's Sunday here, but I swear yesterday was Friday! Anyway, enough babbling, the story!_

_Disclaimer: Anthony Horowitz wouldn't have to result to hi-jacking wifi. Therefore, I am not him and do not own Alex Rider!_

***

There was a moment of stunned silence, then...

"What the fuck is a druggie like you doing here?" asked an incredulous voice. It was Jared Freeman, a black haired boy who had always had it in for Alex. He was more than the traditional bully, brawny as you would expect but smart as well. It was a well known fact that he wanted to be a police officer and took offense at anyone who broke the law.

Unfortunately, this meant that Alex was top on his most-wanted list, with only a healthy self-preservation instinct preventing an all-out fight.

Alex sneered slightly.

"I don't see why it's any of your business," he said, outwardly casual while inside his mind was racing. How could he explain it to them? And why were they here in the first place? Had Scorpia threatened them too or something?

"If we're sharing this place with a criminal I'd say it is," sneered Jared.

"I'm hardly dangerous," he smiled, and almost felt the ripple of concealed amusement pass through the SAS men behind him. "It wasn't exactly the big stuff, was it?"

"They broke into our school just to shoot your guardian in front of you, Rider. How is that _not_ the big stuff?"

Alex flinched and looked down at the ground.

"It's a government programme," he said quietly, with the air of an admission. "To encourage 'young offenders' to join the army when they get out so they can have a 'second chance'." To keep in character he muttered something insulting under his breath and Wolf, apparently catching on, cuffed him around the back of his head. Alex scowled.

Fox looked hard at Alex, with the same sneering expression as he held for the other kids, but Alex could read the warmth in his eyes.

"Right," said the soldier. "I better get this lot," he jerked his thumb towards Alex's class, "back to base. Sending yours over the assault course, Wolf?"

Wolf smirked, "Why else would we be up here? I'll see you later, ok, Fox?"

Fox nodded curtly and began to herd Alex's class away.

Alex watched them leave with a mixture of relief and regret. Had the situation been different, he could have been with them, accepted instead of despised. But in this situation, they were only a danger to his cover.

He turned back to his unit to suggest that they went back to the barracks, but was cut off by the sight of four thunderous expressions.

"Erm... guys?" he said hesitantly. "What's wrong?"

Wolf snarled and Snake lay a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Let's get back to camp first, shall we?" he suggested.

Wolf grunted his assent and Alex felt a hand come down heavily on his neck and propel him back to camp.

Once in the barracks, Alex was pushed firmly onto his bed and he looked up at the four men situated in a semi circle around him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, confused. What had he done to get them so angry? He ran his mind over the confrontation with his class, but honestly couldn't think of anything.

"They think you're in prison?!" exclaimed Wolf.

"Erm, yeah," said Alex, cautiously. _That_ was what they were so worked up about?

"Doesn't it bother you?" said Leopard, uncertainty creeping onto his features.

Alex looked up, still slightly confused. "Well, I guess a bit, but it's not as if they could be told the truth, is it?"

"Jesus," said Leopard, sinking onto his bunk.

"So you have actively saved their lives at least four times – not to mention thousands of others – and you think that it's ok for them to dismiss you as a drug addict and gang member?"

It was Fox. He had appeared in the doorway to the hut with that same, furious expression on his face.

Alex's eyes flickered towards the newcomer.

"They can't exactly be told the truth, can they?"

"I don't like it," said Wolf. "It's not fair."

"You don't have to like it," said Alex quietly. "None of you do. It's simply the way it has to be."

He had accepted this before he had even come here. Now he had to defend this action against the others, even though it had completed his alienation from his peers.

"It's still not fair," said Eagle. He looked like a puppy who had just been kicked.

Alex smiled slightly. "Life's not fair."

"It should be," said Snake.

"But it's not."

Snake bowed his head in admission to the point, though the troubled expression remained on his face.

"Anyway," said Fox. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

Alex looked up hopefully at the potential change of subject.

"That boy – Freeman – he said they shot your guardian in front of you..."

Alex suddenly stood up, brushing past the soldiers.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said abruptly, walking out of the door.

***

He didn't want to see his unit, so he hid. He hid for hours, almost invisible amid the leafy branches of a tree. It was dark by now and Alex knew he would have to return to the barracks soon. K-Unit, plus Fox, had looked for him. He had seen them pass below several hours ago, but they had given up. It had been silent but now, once more, footsteps were approaching. They were too light to be a soldier, too noticeable to be Aikema or another agent.

He stilled his breathing and peered down through the gathering dark. When he saw the dark mop of hair and pale skin of the intruder, he smiled. It was Tom.

"Alex?" called the boy.

"Hey Tom," said Alex.

Tom jumped, and looked up at him a smile on his face.

"How did you know where to find me?" he asked.

Tom shrugged. "I know you – you're unit were tearing their hair out when you vanished, they didn't even try to hide it, so I knew you were hiding, and you're always complaining about how people search in 2D – all I had to do was wander through the woods calling you until you decided to scare the life out of me."

Alex grinned and swung into a lower branch, holding a hand out to his friend. "Come on up," he invited.

Tom smiled and took his friends hand.

They talked about everything and nothing. Tom complained about how boring school had gotten – and how he wished he was there rather than Brecon Beacons. Alex complained about how his Unit were ruining the SAS image and how he absolutely _loathed_ economics. Tom laughed and made fun of him – saying that it was his own stupid fault for using a flag pole as an adventure playground.

Eventually, they lapsed into silence. Alex leant his head against the tree branch and looked towards where his friends white face was just visible in the darkness.

"We should get back," he muttered, preparing to swing down to the ground.

"Yeah," agreed Tom, then paused, as if something had just occurred to him.

"Jack misses you, you know."

Alex froze and turned towards him.

"Would it have killed you to call her?" sighed Tom.

"Tom..." said Alex slowly, shock etched into his expression. "Jack's dead."

***

_A/N: Yeah, so I'll try and update in Tokyo, assuming you've all reviewed!_


	12. Chapter 12

Tom frowned. "What are you talking about?" he asked, nonplussed. "I was talking to her last week. She's as alive as you and me."

"No," said Alex shaking his head. "She's dead. They shot her. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital."

"She's not dead," insisted Tom.

"They told me she died," said Alex, staring into the darkness in confusion.

"Then they lied."

"I have to see her."

"Alex," said Tom, "be reasonable, she's in London and you're in Wales. You'd have to steal a car to see her."

"No," said Alex slowly. "Not a car..."

"What are you planning?" asked Tom, worriedly.

Alex smiled.

"Don't tell them I've gone."

And with that, he disappeared into the darkness.

"Alex?" called Tom. "Alex!"

He looked around but his friend had vanished. "Alex, come back here! I don't know how to get back!"

***

Wolf frowned and raised his hand to knock. From inside, a voice bellowed for him to enter and he cautiously pushed open the door to face the Sergeant.

"Sir?" he said, nervously.

"What is it Wolf?" snapped the Sergeant. "I'm a bit busy here, you know. As if I didn't have enough to do, the high ups from MI6 have decided to drop by! I wish they would give us warning – my soldiers get nervous when an unidentified helicopter suddenly lands at the mansion."

"Yes sir," said Wolf patiently. This was a side of the Sergeant most people didn't see. Normally when he felt harried the Sergeant just yelled more. "It's about Cub, sir."

"What about him?" asked the Sergeant, absently, returning to looking through the paper piled messily on his desk.

"We – ah – we can't find him, sir. It's as if he's just vanished."

The Sergeant's head whipped up to stare at Wolf. The silence between them stretched onwards.

"Even Aikema can't seem to trace him," said Wolf, in a vain attempt to fill the silence.

"Great," muttered the sergeant finally. "Now on top of everything, I have to tear the camp apart to find a runaway _kid._"

"Sorry, sir," muttered Wolf, unsure of why exactly he was apologising but doing so anyway. He didn't want any more punishment duty, after all.

Suddenly the door burst open and both men wheeled towards it.

It was Rat, a fairly new recruit. He was panting in the doorway, obviously heavily out of breath.

"Sir," he gasped, "The helicopter... at the mansion..."

"Well, what about it?" snapped the Sergeant.

"It's taking off."

Wolf and the Sergeant exchanged a look.

"Cub," they said together.

***

Alex swore violently as the helicopter dipped again. Steering hadn't turned out to be much of a problem – the joystick, while not exactly the same as the ones on a games console, was similar enough for him to get the general idea, and he had even got the hang of the weird lever thing that apparently controlled the helicopters ascent and descent. What was throwing him was the other lever. The one that he guessed must control the speed of the blades, for if he didn't adjust it, the helicopter would suddenly drop or shoot up uncontrollably. He wasn't too keen on that so he just kept varying it slightly when he moved either of the others.

He was starting to think he should just have stolen a car.

But he was a fast learner and he seemed to be getting the hang of it.

And best of all, Brecon Beacons was already out of sight.

***

He landed in a park near his house, but he didn't go there. He was pretty sure they knew that he had taken the helicopter by now and would guess where he was going. Instead he slipped up to a payphone and slid inside, making sure to bow his head to conceal his face.

He made a reverse charge call to Jack's mobile and after a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?" asked a voice. It was a voice Alex had never thought he would hear again.

"J-Jack?" he stammered.

"Alex!" exclaimed Jack.

"Jack..." said Alex again, disbelievingly. "Y-You're alive?" He still couldn't believe it. Even though it was her voice on the end of the phone, he couldn't understand it. It seemed too good, too fortunate, for it to happen to him.

"I need to see you," he said abruptly. "I need..." he trailed off. "I need to get away from them... could you... could you bring some clothes? Anything you can get quickly... please? I- I..."

He trailed off. He didn't know where this had come from, all he knew was that he could never, _never_ be associate with MI6 again. He needed out.

But what was he thinking, disrupting Jack's life like this?

"I'm sorry Jack, that was selfish. Just – bring anything of mine that you can, ok? I'll meet you at that cafe where we went when I was small ok? I... I just need to see you..."

He hung up. He knew she would be there; she had never let him down. No, he had always been the one letting her down. Again and again and again. Well that would stop. He wouldn't take another mission. He'd disappear. He'd do everything he could to make Jack happy.

Half an hour later, he was sitting in the cafe. He barely recognised the woman sitting opposite him. Instead of the lively, vibrant woman he had known, a doll sat opposite him. Every movement was stiff. Her red hair hung lank around her shoulders and her skin was dangerously pale.

"Jack..." he began, lost for words. "What happened? Why..."

She sighed. "I'm sorry Alex... It's just... I didn't know where you'd gone, I didn't know if you were off on another mission or what, and when they said you weren't coming back... when you didn't call..."

Alex felt tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Jack, so sorry. They- they told me... they told me you were dead. If I had known..."

Jack's mouth had fallen open in outrage.

"They told you _what_?" she yelled.

"Jack! Keep it down. They don't know where I am!" he hissed.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I can't let this happen again... I'm supposed to be responsible for you and yet I just let them take you..."

"It's not going to happen again," insisted Alex. "I'm getting out of here. I'll take the first flight out of the country."

"I guess it's a good thing I brought both of our passports then, isn't it?" smiled Jack.

"Both?" said Alex, "I'm not asking you to come with me, Jack. I can't ask you to leave all your friends and everything."

Jack smiled, and for a moment she looked just like the woman he had known before.

"Without you, Alex, all of that doesn't mean a thing."

***

They took Jack's car to the airport, two bags and as much cash as they could gather between them. They bought two tickets on Jack's credit card on the first flight they could – to Portugal, as it turned out.

But something was wrong. Alex could feel them being watched and the very fact that he couldn't see the watchers meant it would have to be an agent, and a skilled one at that.

"Let's get through security," he said to Jack, desperate to get some distance between them and the invisible watchers. Jack nodded and together they moved towards the barrier.

She was in front of him in the queue. She put their single carry-on bag on the conveyor belt and took off her jacket. Alex followed suit, but paused as his neck prickled.

He turned around. There by the exit were two agents, black suited with glasses on. Glancing around, he saw at least seven more. Jesus, they had sent _nine_ agents after him?

Quickly he scrambled through his pockets, trying to empty them quickly before the agents – now pushing roughly through the crowd – could reach him.

He had to keep in public areas – surely MI6 wouldn't want to draw attention to this? He was proved wrong as one of the agents reached him and automatically tried to knock him out. Alex dodged the punch and delivered his own blow to the man's stomach, his knee connecting with the agent's chin and knocking him out on his way down.

"Sir?" it was one of the airport security staff. "If you continue with this behaviour I'm going to have to ask you to depart from the airport."

"Sorry," said Alex, smiling charmingly, "It won't happen again, but if I could just get passed..."

The woman frowned, apparently unsure of what to do, but then a voice called out from behind Alex. "Stop! Police!"

On the other side of the barrier, Jack froze and turned back to face him.

"No..." she whispered. Alex could see the word form on her lips and the horror possess her eyes.

Another agent reached him, the others just behind.

"No! Alex! NO!" screamed Jack, hysterically.

Alex turned to face the threat. It seemed to happen in slow motion. He could see every hit. He took down the agents on automatic. But there were too many of them, and he could feel himself wearing down.

Another agent appeared in front of him and Alex froze in disbelief.

"Sensei," he said, his voice heavy with defeat.

"I'm sorry, Alex," said Aikema.

Alex never even saw the blow coming. He crumpled to the floor unconscious.

***

_A/N: So I've updated again! Yeah, Tokyo is amazing. I've never seen a city like it! Thanks everyone for all the reviews – I'm sorry if I didn't have a chance to reply to any, I tried but time is limited here. Once again, none of the above belongs to me. All of it is officially DISCLAIMED, got that?_

_Nervous about this chapter, I have to admit. I hope you like it. Please review and reassure me!_

_Sorry, won't be updating for a while, don't think there is wifi in the next place I'm going to. I'll update when I am in Hong Kong, if I can!_

_Love you all, and please REVIEW!_

_Odd x_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: I have a confession to make. It's about ten o'clock here, and I'm exhausted after having my dad call me after dinner, obviously forgetting that that would make it THREE AM here! And do you know what he wanted? To tell me to check my email! I mean honestly! I check my email all the time anyway! Grrr. So yeah, what I'm trying to say is that I'm too tired to think up anything meaningful to put here so I'm going to keep it simple._

_Alex Rider isn't mine._

_Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Sorry if I didn't reply, I honestly try to reply to them all._

_Please review this chapter. Reviews make me happy._

_We covered everything? Good. Now onto the story..._

_***_

He woke up in a windowless room. He didn't need to try the door to know it would be locked.

He tried it anyway, only to be proved right. A quick inspection revealed no visible lock, so he wouldn't be able to pick it either.

Sighing, he looked around the room, counting the ways out. The door and... the door.

Well that was just great. They hadn't even been polite enough to leave him a ventilation shaft that he could crawl through. People could be so inconsiderate sometimes. He sighed and slumped down onto the floor, resting his back against the cold stone wall.

He didn't have to wait long until the door was opened for him by an anonymous agent. Judging from the large bruise on the side of his head and the scowl on his face, he had been one of the ones sent to the airport to try and apprehend Alex.

Alex smirked with satisfaction. At least he had caused them some inconvenience and, from the looks of it, a considerable amount of pain. Admittedly, his whole body ached from the blows he had received and he was pretty sure he had sprained his wrist, albeit mildly, but he didn't have anything as obvious as that.

Silently, Alex rose to his feet and followed the agent. He didn't say a word until he saw a familiar door ahead.

"So you were sent to play delivery boy then?" he asked morosely. He hadn't expected anything else though, not really.

The agent didn't reply, simply opening the door and pushing him roughly through.

"Nice to meet you too," muttered Alex sarcastically, before straightening up and eyeing the two occupants of the room.

"Mrs Jones, Mr Blunt," he greeted, dropping into the single seat in front of the desk.

"Alex," smiled Mrs Jones, smiling slightly.

Blunt didn't respond beyond a slight crease in his forehead to signify his apparent displeasure with his youngest agent.

Eventually, he spoke. "There is a situation in Paraguay that we believe you would be perfect to investigate."

Alex held up a hand. "Wait," he interrupted, "before I go through all of the effort of refusing only to be blackmailed into it anyway – what happened to Jack."

"Miss Starbright saw the benefits of boarding a flight to Washington. She will not be returning."

"And so what makes you think I will have anything to do with this mission? You have no hold over me anymore."

"Of course, Alex," said Mr Blunt, "You are always free to refuse a mission. Of course... we will have to call the authorities about the helicopter you stole, and the physical assault in the airport..."

Alex scowled. He didn't think they could actually prosecute him for that, it'd raise too many questions, but they probably _could_ have him thrown in prison until he agreed. They were MI6 after all.

"Fine, what are the details?" he asked, finally.

"There is a school in the hills of Paraguay. The principal is somewhat similar to Point Blanc – for problem children who have been expelled from multiple schools – except it caters to the poor, children living on the streets or in care. We feel that there is something... suspicious about this school and would like you to investigate."

Alex sighed. "When do I leave?" he asked.

"As soon as you are finished here. I believe Smithers is waiting for you, now."

***

Leopard sighed. It had been two weeks and they had had no word of Cub. They had been to see the Sergeant and had simply been told that Cub had been 'retrieved'. Snake had been incensed by that word, as if Cub was some object to be kept and disposed of to treat his owner – he didn't realise how close that was to the truth.

Wolf on the other hand, had gone completely back the other way, losing any fellow feeling he had had towards Cub and thinking of him as a 'whining brat' who was too immature to simply follow orders like a soldier was supposed to. He felt betrayed and disappointed as if Cub had personally let him down.

Leopard admitted to himself that he missed Cub, but he wasn't especially worried. The kid could look after himself, and it wasn't as if they would get him to do anything _dangerous_ was it? After all, he was just a teenager! He frowned slightly as he realised that they still didn't know how old the kid actually was. He would ask when Cub got back.

_If Cub got back, _whispered a treacherous voice in the back of his mind. _After all, he's been shot before, in the _chest.

Leopard turned over on his bunk with a sigh and looked around the room. He wished he could talk to his unit about it. He knew that deep down – very deep down in Wolf's case – they were all worried about him, but the subject of Cub had quickly become taboo. No-one raised the topic and if someone did, either accidentally or just forgetting, then Wolf would walk out, Snake would become quiet and withdrawn, a frown of concern plainly visible on his head and Eagle and Leopard... well they quickly shut up, retreating to their bunks in uncharacteristic silence.

Fox had been avoiding the entire group. Whenever he saw any of them a look of utmost guilt would cross his features. Leopard was sure that Fox knew something about Cub or his missions, but didn't press him on it. In the meantime, K-Unit had started to help Fox with the children, even though Fox was virtually silent on anything not directly related to the current activity.

Leopard really wanted to strangle the little brats. He had heard some of the discussing Cub on the first day and he couldn't believe that they seriously thought that about him. It had probably made him a little more cruel than he would usually be towards them, but tried to tone it down. He couldn't believe they were the same age as Cub!

"Hey Eagle," he said, fed up with his melancholy musings. "Want to play cards?"

Eagle sat up with a groan and pulled out a well-thumbed pack of cards. "Ok then," he said, moving the small table in the corner over to his bed. Leopard pulled up the dilapidated chair and they started to play. A gust of wind blew the cards of the table and the soldiers turned towards the door.

"Cub," said Wolf, brusquely. He wasn't surprised. They had all known the kid would be back. He was slightly surprised by the neon pink hair and the earring though, but was careful not to show it.

"Hey kid!" exclaimed Eagle, always the main sufferer from foot-in-mouth syndrome. "How are you?"

Cub snarled.

"I- erm – guess that means not so good?" said Eagle, backing off a bit.

"Way to state the obvious, Eagle," muttered Leopard.

"Where did you go, Cub?" he questioned, stretching his arms lazily, as if to show it was just idle curiosity. "And what's with the hair?"

Cub simply glared at him. He obviously wasn't happy about being back here.

"I suggest we leave the interrogation until the morning when this bout of angst has blown itself out," said Snake, wryly. Cub ignored him, turning to face the wall on his bunk.

Well, thought Leopard. Cub was back.

***

_Yeah so it's a bit of a short chapter, and I guess it's a bit of a filler, but we have pink hair and earrings to be explained next chapter, bare with me! Plus there will be Alex's class and Aikema and... erm other stuff next chapter, so give me a break ok?_

_I'll update from Sydney, if you're all very nice and review. Now I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone!_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: So first off I want to apologise for this being so late. I was supposed to update in Sydney, but the internet was dodgy and so couldn't really upload anything, so you all had to wait until Vancouver. Sorry about that. On the plus side, for you at least, I should be home in three days, so updates will be coming more regularly then. I hope you like the chapter, and thanks again to everyone who reviewed last time! I was tempted to merge and post two chapters at once, but decided against it as it would mean I had to renumber all the chapters, so the next chapter should be up soon. Day after tomorrow probably._

_DISCLAIMER: Alex Rider does not belong to me. Neither does anything else you recognise. And neither does the hair dye. Sorry to disappoint._

***

The first thing that Leopard heard when he woke up the next morning was a muffled cursing. He turned over to see Cub rummaging through his bag. When the kid straightened up, Leopard saw the pink hair and, underneath it, Cub's scalp was red from scrubbing.

"Dye not shifting then, Cub?" he asked, smirking.

Alex scowled at him. As if it wasn't bad enough that he had only just got back from a mission and that he had to accept the fact that his guardian had been deported and that MI6 _still_ had complete control of his life, he now had SAS soldiers taking the piss out of him for hair dye that he had had no choice in. In fact he had objected strenuously but was ignored.

"Have you tried a colour stripper?" asked Eagle unhelpfully from the far side of the hut.

"And where exactly do you think I would get one of them?" snapped Cub.

"Well," said Eagle, "I'm pretty sure Leopard bleaches his hair – you could ask him!"

Alex raised a speculative, slightly disbelieving, eyebrow towards Leopard, who blushed.

"I do no such thing!" he protested, running a hand through his platinum hair, "This is 100% natural, I assure you."

"Shut up," growled Wolf, "I really couldn't care less about any of your hair, ok?"

Snake rolled his eyes and gave up on sleep.

"How have you been, Cub?" he asked quietly.

"Fine," said Alex shortly.

"Then you won't mind if I give you a medical, will you?"

"There's really no need," protested Alex.

"Cub," said Snake, warningly.

"Aw, Jesus, are you planning on molly coddling the brat to death?" snapped Wolf, quickly pulling on his boots and leaving the room.

Alex frowned. "Is he mad at me or something?"

"Don't ask us to fathom even the slightest thing about Wolf's confusing mind," said Leopard, wearily.

"In a word, yes," said Snake. "Sorry, Cub."

Alex sighed again and stood up. "I'm off to breakfast."

"Good luck getting past the Sergeant with the hair," grinned Eagle.

Alex scowled and headed for the door.

"Wait!" called Snake behind him, "Cub! What about that check up?!"

But Alex was already gone, leaving the grumbling Snake behind.

***

"Hey Cub! You're back!"

"Nice hair, Cub."

"Where've you been Cub?"

"Pink, Cub? Anything you want to tell us?"

These were the cries that greeted Alex when he pushed open the door to the mess hall. He scowled and ducked his head. He had to get rid of this bloody hair colour! At least none of them had seen the earring yet. He hadn't quite figured out how he was supposed to get rid of that – at least without blowing up the entire room. Smithers had made a work of genius, as always, but for once, Alex hadn't needed it – the locks had been basic at best and easy to pick – they hadn't even searched him!

Of course, that didn't mean he had gotten away without a scratch– The bruise that crept up his neck was the result of an attempted strangling and he still had quite a nasty flesh wound on his right thigh and it was killing him to avoid walking with a limp despite the pain killers, but he wasn't about to let the soldiers know that.

The rest of his unit walked through the door and slipped into the queue behind him. They gathered their food and made towards the table where Wolf already sat. Halfway there, someone grabbed his shirt.

Alex reacted instinctively. He dropped his tray and span around, quickly pinning his assailant to the table they had been sitting at, their arm twisted behind their back.

"Cub..." whispered Snake worriedly.

Alex blinked and looked at his would-be assailant. Inwardly he cursed. It was Freeman.

Wolf rose to the occasion magnificently. "Rider!" he bellowed, grabbing Alex by the shoulder. "Outside, now!"

Alex let himself be manhandled outside, sparing a single, slightly mournful glance for his spilt breakfast as he hadn't had a decent meal in almost four days and even the mush served at the SAS camp was starting to look appetising. But he knew that in this situation, the best idea was just to get away for a while. After all, as they said: out of sight, out of mind.

Wolf propelled him to the muddy clearing in the centre of the camp.

Alex smiled. "Thanks, Wolf, I-"

But he was cut off by a growl from Wolf.

"I don't want to hear it, Cub," he snarled. "Now drop and give me fifty."

Alex blinked. "I'm sorry, wh-"

"Now, Cub!"

***

Inside the mess hall, Jared slowly straightened up, rubbing his arm. He shot a venomous look at the soldiers still gathered around, apparently surprised, and sat down. There was a moment of silence among the school children.

"What on earth was that?" asked one of the girls, Emily Baker.

"Rider's a psycho," spat Jared.

"Come off it, Freeman," sighed a boy, Jonathon Mason. Everyone called him Johnny. "I admit there's something a bit weird about him, but he's hardly a psycho."

"He went to prison for drugs! That makes him a psycho in my books!"

"You really believe that?" asked Johnny sceptically.

"Yeah – what do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but drugs just don't fit. We've never seen him do as much as smoke a cigarette, for Christ's sake!"

"So? He was hardly going to light up right in front of us, was he?"

"It just doesn't fit," said Emily, shaking her head. "And did you see the reactions of those SAS soldiers when he said he had been in prison? They were surprised."

"And if he was disappearing to do drugs, or to work for a gang, where has he been for the last two weeks? You don't seriously think they would let him get away with that _here_, do you?"

"He came back just as beat up as ever. Not to mention the pink hair, and did you see the earring?"

Tom, who had been eating as quickly as he could to just get out of there, stood up and made to clear his tray.

"Hey, wait, Harris," said a new voice – Josh Stephenson. He was looking at Tom with narrow, suspicious eyes. "You know something don't you?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," denied Tom, firmly.

"Oh come off it, Harris!" exclaimed Jared. "You hung around with Rider all the time! You have to know something!"

"I only know the same as you, Freeman. Just... let it go, ok?"

***

Aikema materialised out of nowhere around press-up forty five.

"What is going on, Wolf?" he asked, quietly.

"Cub attacked a member of that school class," said Wolf, curtly, as Alex climbed to his feet.

"Alex?" said Aikema, his voice still calm and quiet.

Alex closed his eyes briefly.

"He grabbed me," admitted Alex. "I- I didn't even think... I just... reacted. I'm sorry, Sensei."

Aikema sighed. "We've worked on this, Cub. You have to be able to recognise the difference between a threat and a harmless gesture instantly. What would have happened if you reacted like that on a mission?"

"I would have been killed, sir," said Alex quietly. He looked vulnerable somehow, more like a child than he had since Wolf had first seen him again.

"I understand that you just got back from a mission, and I will make allowances, but I have to ask... have you ever talked to a psychiatrist about your missions?"

"No!" exclaimed Alex, immediately tensing. "I mean, no, sir. I haven't and I would prefer not to."

Aikema frowned. "Ok," he said finally. "But if this happens again..."

"It won't," interrupted Alex, quickly, "sir."

"Very well. Wolf – the Sergeant wants to see you both."

***

_A/N: REVIEW!_


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: So hands up if you love me. An update yesterday, and then another today! I'm the best aren't I?_

_Ok, so it's all because I felt guilty about making you wait so long for an update. If you're all really nice and review, I might just update tomorrow again. If not... well, you'll have to wait until I get back to England... and then about another week while I catch up on reality. Sorry, that wasn't meant to sound as much like a threat, but reality does need my attention and the week is unavoidable. In the meantime... enjoy!_

_DISCLAMER: yada yada yada... Not Mine._

_***_

When Wolf and Alex arrived at the Sergeant's office, Snake, Eagle and Leopard were already waiting in front of it. Without speaking to any of them, Wolf knocked on the door. When the Sergeant indicated, he pushed it open and the five of them filed inside.

"K-Unit," greeted the Sergeant. "Cub..." he added, looking hard at Alex. "The hair dye..."

Alex scowled briefly before smoothing out his face into a blank mask. "Sorry, sir, it won't come out. I've tried."

The rest of K-Unit hid smirks, though not very successfully. The Sergeant sent them a warning look.

"I want it out within the next twenty-four hours," he said.

Alex nodded, silently wondering how on earth he was supposed to get it out when it wouldn't even fade with two hours of scrubbing with industrial strength soap.

"And the earring comes out right now," added the Sergeant.

Alex bit his lip.

"What, does that refuse to come out too, Cub," mocked the Sergeant, nastily.

"Erm, no sir-"

"Then take it out!" yelled the Sergeant. "I don't care what you think about it, Cub! You can look however you like when you're at home-" Alex winced, and the Sergeant mentally kicked himself for being so tactless, though he gave no sign of it. This was the kid's home now, after all. "- but while you're here you will obey orders, whether you like them or not! Now TAKE THAT GODDAMN EARRING OUT!"

"It'll explode, sir," said Alex, calmly, and the Sergeant froze slightly.

"I don't think I want to know," he murmured quietly, before turning back to Alex with a frown. "Fine, but any explosions and I will come straight to you."

"Yes, sir," said Alex, blankly, clamping down on all facial emotions in an attempt to prevent himself rolling his eyes.

"Now," said the Sergeant. "I believe you have leave coming up in a week. One month, if I am correct?"

"Yes, sir," replied Wolf.

"I have called you here to discuss two things. One, the standard fitness test taken by all SAS soldiers before extended leave. You will be taking this today. None of the other units will be using the assault course. I believe you know the drill?"

The four soldiers nodded, only Alex looked nonplussed, though he didn't ask the obvious question. He was sure Snake or Leopard or someone would inform him.

"The second is Cub."

All of the soldiers frowned.

"He, obviously, will not be going on leave, and yet another Unit will be coming in to occupy your Barracks. The way I see it, we have three options: one, he joins this Unit, who will obviously not accept him and will therefore most likely make both their own and his training harder; two, we can find somewhere for him to stay for the month you are away – somewhere away from camp or three, he can join his former class for the month."

Alex paled. They couldn't make him stay with his class - they were bound to realise something was wrong then.

"I will give you until the end of the day to decide as a team. And Wolf?"

"Sir."

"Whatever your personal issues with Cub, you _will_ take his opinion into consideration in this. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

The four filed out.

"So," said Alex to Snake as they exited to room, "What does this test involve?"

Snake grimaced. "It's really quite simple. We run the assault course... over and over and over again."

Alex groaned. This was going to be a tiring day.

***

Alex swung down from the latest obstacle, panting with exertion. This was the fifth time he had run the obstacle course in an hour and a half and it was starting to show. Ok, so it was more than starting to show. Every step was agony. But Alex couldn't stop. If he stopped, they would know something was wrong and then they would worry, or complain or mock him or something. He wasn't quite sure what reaction he expected, if he was honest, but, whatever it was, he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it, so he kept quiet.

It wasn't just his leg though; every heavy breath scraped down his injured throat, sending shards of fire through him. But he ignored it. He only had one obstacle left on this turn, and he could see the others at the end, apparently resting. He spurred himself on, leaping up high to catch the top of the wall in his hands and pulling himself up and over. He launched himself off the ledge and landed on the ground.

He screamed as his injured leg buckled painfully underneath him.

Moments later, Snake was by his side. He took in Alex's suddenly pale complexion, uneven, strenuous breathing and tense muscles and frowned.

"What happened?" he asked brusquely.

Alex opened his mouth, but only a gasp of pain came out.

"Idiot brat," snarled Wolf. "If you're injured you tell somebody. You don't keep it to yourself and try to complete a stamina test! You just complicate it for all of us!"

Still snarling, he strode off, leaving Snake and Leopard bent over Alex as Eagle hurried after him.

Snake ignored Wolf and instead tugged at Alex's t-shirt, ignoring Alex's weak protests.

He surveyed the torso critically. There were plenty of bruises – many quite serious and some scarily close to Cub's many scars, but nothing that would produce this reaction from someone like Cub. Irritated, he pulled the top down and moved his hands to Cub's trousers.

"Snake!" gasped Alex.

"Oh, grow up," snapped the soldier. "If you had let me give you a check up this wouldn't be necessary!"

Alex quietened down, stung into silence by the rebuke.

Snake's frown increased as he revealed the wound on Cub's thigh. It started about three quarters of the way up towards his hip bone and ended across his kneecap.

"You're stitches have torn loose," said Snake. "Didn't your surgeon tell you not to do any heavy exercise after having this done?"

Alex emitted what could have been a laugh. "Honestly?" he gasped. "I never even saw the guy. I was knocked unconscious in the river, then woke up all stitched up in a hospital room. The next day, I came back here."

Snake frowned. "I can't deal with this here. I need to get you to the infirmary."

Painfully, Alex pulled himself to his feet. Leopard and Snake stared at him.

"What?" he asked, defensively.

"You," said Snake firmly, "should not be walking. You've already done enough damage."

"But-!" protested Alex. He could walk just fine! Ok, well maybe not fine, but he didn't need to be carried.

"No but's," said Leopard firmly.

***

In the end, they agreed not to carry him, as long as he leant on them both all the way back to camp.

In the infirmary, the doctors took one look at the dark, albeit small, blood stain on his trousers, the scowl on his face and – probably more importantly – the scowl on Snake's face, and forced him onto a bed while they took a look at his leg.

"Really," said Alex, embarrassed as they, once again, tried to remove his trousers, "It's just a scratch!"

"That," growled Snake, "is not just a _scratch_, Cub. Stop being such a brat and let them stitch it back together, ok?"

Alex scowled.

"Take that as an order, Cub," said Aikema. Alex hadn't even noticed him come in, but he was now standing against the wall, just by the door. "And next time," he said, as calm as ever, "you get a medical as soon as you come back, ok?"

Alex nodded, reluctantly. "Yes, Sensei."

"Good. I want you to report to me first thing in the morning. We'll spend the day working on the school work you missed while you were away."

"Yes, Sensei," sighed Alex.

***

Wolf faced Eagle, Snake and Leopard in the barracks.

"Ok," he said, "We need to make a decision about Cub when we're on leave."

"Shouldn't he be here for this?" asked Leopard worriedly, glancing at Snake, who was scowling.

"The kid is unconscious in the infirmary and the Sergeant wants an answer in an hour," snapped Wolf.

"Fine," muttered Snake.

"What was that, soldier?" snapped Wolf.

"Nothing, Wolf," sighed Snake.

"It better be nothing," threatened Wolf. "I'm still team leader here – and no brat who should still be in school is going to change that, ok?"

Snake nodded.

"Good."

The others were looking at him in surprise. Wolf was a good leader, but it was generally because he didn't have to state his authority over them. This was out of character at best. Apparently he was more upset about Cub than they had thought.

"Are we all agreed that the first option is out? Cub can't simply join another unit for a month."

The others nodded. "Like it or not," said Eagle, "He's part of K-unit. We can't just dump him in another team."

Wolf scowled slightly at the reminder, but didn't contest the fact.

"So, we have either him rejoining his class for a month – or however long they are here for – or have him staying with someone outside the camp."

"He won't want to rejoin his class," said Snake, "They all think he's a criminal."

"One of us could look after him," suggested Eagle, grinning wickedly.

"You're joking, right?" said Leopard, slightly disbelievingly. "None of us could look after a kid. We can barely look after ourselves!"

"Oh come on," said Eagle, "It can't be that hard."

"No, Leopard's right," said Wolf. "Looking out for him as a member of the unit is one thing, but accepting temporary guardianship – and that is pretty much what we'd be doing – is completely another."

"Maybe... MI6 could put him up?"

"Where?" scoffed Snake, "At the 'bank'? Not very likely. And anyway – I don't trust them with Cub. If you had seen some of his injuries..."

He trailed off and Wolf frowned at him. "So MI6 is definitely out." Even Wolf, as mad as he was at Cub, wasn't about to force the kid into that.

"So, what does that leave us?" asked Eagle, frowning.

Wolf sighed. "He stays here. With his class."

Snake sank his head into his hands. Having a premonition of the future, he murmured almost inaudibly.

"Oh dear."

***

_Like I said... REVIEW!_


	16. Chapter 16

_DISCLAIMER: Not mine._

_***_

"What?!" exclaimed Alex. "You have got to be kidding me! Have you any idea...?! What about my cover, my training? They're going to skin me alive!"

"Sorry, Cub," said Leopard. "It really was the only option."

"Oh come on – why couldn't I just go and... and..." He drew blank and sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said. "I still don't have to like it though."

"No-one ever said you did," said Wolf, nastily. They had just told him their solution to their leave and – as Snake had predicted – he wasn't happy. At all. In fact, 'not happy' was probably the understatement of the century. Fortunately for the soldiers, he couldn't think of a viable alternative. If he had been able to, there would have been hell to pay.

Alex scowled at Wolf. "I'm going for a shower," he huffed. "I have to get this hair dye out."

***

Alex scowled. He _hated_ MI6. Them _and_ the stupid SAS. And hair dye that wouldn't – bloody – come – out!

Honestly, Smithers may be a genius with the hair dye that wouldn't wash out or fade, but couldn't he have made something to _remove _it?

Alex swore as some of the multi-purpose soap he was using washed into his eyes. It stung like hell.

Eyes screwed shut and temporarily blind, he thrust a hand outside the curtain, groping for his towel. He found the soft material, cursing again as something heavy fell out of it and hit his foot. Roughly, he wiped the soap out of his eyes and returned the towel to its former place. Curiously he bent down and looked at the object that had fallen on his foot. It was a bottle of shampoo.

"For that sunshine look..." read Alex, then shrugged. Why not?

He squeezed some of the white, silky liquid into his palm and massaged it into his scalp. His hand came away pink.

He grinned and squeezed more onto his palm.

Twenty minutes later, Alex stepped out of the shower and went to check in the mirror. Sure enough, he was blond again, possibly even a shade or two lighter than he had been.

He smirked. Now if only he could figure out a way to get rid of that damn earring.

***

"Hey, Cub!" exclaimed Eagle when he entered the room again. "Where'd the hair go? I kinda liked it."

Alex shot him a weird look. "I found some –apparently decent – shampoo in the shower. I swear it had bleach in it though – my hair has gone even lighter than before!"

Leopard suddenly sat up. "What was it called?" he asked suspiciously.

"Erm... I don't know, it just said something about sunshine on the bottle, why?"

Snake's eyebrows shot up and Eagle sat up quickly on the bed. Both seemed to be expecting trouble.

"Ten quid says he tries to take him," whispered Snake.

Eagle shook his head. "Nah," he replied, "That's too obvious. You'd have to give me really good odds to take _that_ bet!"

Leopard scowled at them.

"I am not going to 'try to take him' simply because he borrowed my shampoo!"

"Well you almost ripped Jackal's head off when _he_ tried to borrow it."

"Yeah," said Leopard, "but that was different. Cub's part of our unit."

"Yeah," muttered Snake quietly, "And you know you'd lose if you tried anything."

Leopard chose to ignore that particular comment.

"I always said you must bleach your hair," grinned Eagle. "This proves it!"

Leopard growled and launched himself at Eagle. Alex simply stared at the two men involved in the impromptu wrestling match incredulously. Were they _sure_ these men had managed to qualify for the SAS?

"Oi! You two!" shouted Wolf, standing up. "Get up off the floor and act like soldiers, God dammit! We have a night exercise in ten minutes!"

Apparently these words worked magic as both of the fighters immediately leapt to their feet and prepared to go out. Alex, too, got off his bed, but Snake reached out and grabbed him.

"Don't even think about it, Cub," he commanded. "Not with that leg."

Alex sighed and lay moodily down on his bed wishing, and not for the first time, that he had been allowed to bring his iPod. At least then he would have something to listen to. In lieu of this, he pulled out a geography text book from under his bed and began to read the next chapter. On discovering that it was, rather ironically, about Paraguay, he skipped to the next chapter and began reading about Hong Kong and its political status in China. He put an arm behind his head and supported the book an inch or two above his face with the other.

Something snapped around his wrist with a metallic clink and Alex bolted upright, only to find...

"_Handcuffs_?" he exploded. "What the _hell_?!"

Snake shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry Cub," he said. "We don't _want_ too –"

"Huh, speak for yourself," muttered Wolf.

"-but we've been given orders. If we're not with you, you're to be secured. They – the higher ups – don't want to risk you running off again."

Alex scowled and lay back down. He didn't blame K-Unit. They were just following orders. MI6 on the other hand... he would say that he couldn't believe they would do this, except he could. It was hardly atypical behaviour for them, was it? They had already proved that they would do anything to keep him under their control.

"Bye, Cub," muttered Snake, walking out, Eagle and Leopard close behind.

Wolf took one last, hate-filled look at Alex and followed.

"Yeah, bye," he replied, miserably, lying back on his bed.

It didn't take long for him to become aware of someone watching him. He pushed it to the back of his mind. He was being paranoid, he had accepted that. He had thought it was simply guilt manifesting itself, but maybe it was just being here? Always having to watch himself, make sure he didn't give anything away, making sure he didn't give in. He sighed and closed his eyes, willing for sleep, however restless, to take him quickly.

His dreams were plagued by the nightmares that always followed a mission, but slowly the memories gave way to a dream that he was all too familiar with as, once again, the dead came to haunt him.

Yassen had only just disappeared, his cold, accusing gaze fading slowly into darkness, when Jack walked towards him out of the edges of the dream.

"_You killed me," she hissed._

"_No..." whispered Alex, pain and guilt welling up inside him, "No! You're not dead! You survived!"_

"_There is a world of difference," whispered Jack, her dead eyes still staring him accusingly, "between surviving and living. You. Stole. My. LIFE!"_

"_No..." whispered Alex. "I'm sorry, Jack. I tried. I tried."_

"_Well, you didn't try hard enough," she spat, her eyes coming to life with flames._

"_YOU KILLED ME!" she screamed, suddenly. "You ruined my LIFE!"_

_The heat from her eyes was burning him. He staggered back._

"_No," he protested weakly, as the flames spread to her hair, her shoulders, her skin. She stood unharmed in the middle, while Alex couldn't get closer, the heat scorching him from where he was. He could even hear the crackling of the flames_

"_It's all YOUR FAULT!" she screamed._

"NO!"

Alex woke up, panting with emotion, tears on his face... and sweating from the fire that had conquered the room.

"Oh shit..."

***

_A/N: Of course... the disadvantage of me updating again is that you now have a cliff hanger... and no guarantee of when I'll update... sorry!_

_Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. I am going to reply to you, I swear, but tonight I had an option between replying and updating... I didn't think you would complain about this choice._

_**Nina**__: You didn't sign in so I'm going to reply here. Bear with me! I know MI6 wouldn't let him... but at the moment it's the Sergeant's decision. I'm glad you like the story, and there __**is**__ logic behind my plot twists! And how do you know that this is a twist? It might only be a small bump in the general direction! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! And I like the name. Have a friend called Nine, short for Georgina and when I first met her kept calling her Gina. Really, REALLY annoyed her. She can't stand it! Anyways, I'm babbling. Thanks again!_

_**Dreamcloud**__: bit confused as to how I can be good AND evil... but thank you anyway, I think. No problem about yesterday, and hope you enjoyed this update!_

_Oh, and everyone else... am going to go and reply now!_

_Oh... and check out my profile and tell me what story you want me to write/post next. There are several options up!_

_Thanks again, sorry for the extremely long A/N. Well, long for me!_

_Oddx_


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: So I'm back! I know you all missed me, and probably absolutely hate me for leaving Alex in the middle of a fire for a week, but I'm back now, and ready to post!_

_DISCLAIMER: Completely, utterly and irrevocably disclaimed. I own nothing!_

_***_

Wolf smiled. The night exercise had finished early – with K-Unit having defeated the other two teams. And Wolf was happy about that, so he was smiling.

He wasn't a complicated man; he would be the first to admit that. In many respects, he was the perfect soldier. He followed orders to the letter, and was smart enough to complete an objective when a plan didn't work out. He had never questioned his orders – at least, until he met Cub.

Cub complicated everything. It wasn't as simple as 'us and them' when Cub was involved. He couldn't be doing with spying – his first impulse when confronted with an enemy was to reach for his gun. After all, a dead enemy wasn't really an enemy anymore. He knew spies were necessary – they frequently made his job easier with additional intelligence.

Of course, when he was directly involved with them his job seemed to get incredibly complicated – and incredibly dangerous.

And to get a _child_ involved in that? It was unbelievable. He had tried to get Cub binned when he had last been here, simply because he thought an SAS camp was no place for a child. Of course, he couldn't disobey his orders – he was still a soldier – so he did it by trying to make Cub give up and quit.

When Cub had come back, he had tried the same thing and had kept on trying it until Cub forced him to accept proof that he was capable of doing his job – whether or not he _should _do it – and all Wolf was doing was making his life harder and making himself look like an arsehole.

He had genuinely begun to like the kid, and then Cub had had to ruin it all by acting like a complete child and running away. Wolf felt anger rise up inside him and pulled ahead of his team mates.

He was therefore the first to here the shouts.

"Something's wrong," he muttered to the rest of his Unit when they caught up and together they began to sprint back towards the camp.

Their barracks was on fire. A crowd of people had gathered in front of it, no more than black silhouettes against the orange glow.

"CUB?!" roared Wolf, panic forming in the back of his head. Where was he? Jesus, that kid had better be ok – he'd never forgive him if he wasn't. "Cub, where are you?!"

He saw a soldier who seemed to be in charge of the attempts to put out the fire. "Where's Cub?" he asked.

The soldier turned to him, horror on his face. "We thought he was with you!" exclaimed the soldier.

"You mean he's STILL IN THERE?" roared Wolf, pushing through the crowd towards the hut.

"WOLF!" yelled the soldier. "What the hell are you doing?! You'll be burnt alive!"

Wolf ignored him. Some laid a restraining hand on his arm, but Wolf only slowed long enough to deliver a swift punch to the offender's jaw.

He broke out of the crowd, his way finally clear to the barracks. He kicked down the door, shying back from the belch of flames.

The room was an inferno. Each of the beds had flames running up their legs. The walls were on fire, even as he took a step forward part of the ceiling caved in.

He could just see Cub through the smoke. He was lying on the bed, apparently unconscious.

Wolf swore and pulled his jacket half over his face as protection against the smoke as an involuntary cough wracked his body.

He staggered over to Cub.

"Cub? Cub?" he said, desperately.

The boy's eyes flickered slightly.

"Wolf?" he asked, groggily, obviously confused.

"Yeah, it's me, kid. Just hold on, ok? I'm getting you out of here."

"Key..." said Cub, indistinctly.

_Key_? thought Wolf, _What key? _A flash of silver caught his eye and Wolf glanced towards Cub's wrist.

"Shit," cursed Wolf. They had handcuffed the kid inside a _burning_ _building_.

He scrambled for the key, still in his pocket, and inserted it into the lock.

"Cub?" he whispered again, but got no response. Carefully, Wolf moved the bloody and misshapen wrist across Cub's chest and picked him up. He was scarily light. Was the kid eating enough?

Wolf shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He turned to face the door...

Only to be confronted with a wall of flame.

"Oh, Jesus," muttered Wolf.

He could just about see the outline of the door, flames lapping around its edges. He pulled Cub close to his chest and ran for it.

***

Snake held his breath as he saw his leader enter the burning building, only letting it out as he saw the roaring figure come bursting out of it. Thank God.

He pushed his way forward as medics took Cub from Wolf's arms.

"Severe smoke inhalation... mild burns on his back and legs... shallow cuts on his right wrist... which is also dislocated, apparently by himself, probably accidentally," diagnosed one of them and Snake frowned.

"Will he be ok?" he asked.

The medic nodded. "He should be, if given the time to recover properly." Neither of them commented on how unlikely this was.

Instead, Snake nodded his thanks and turned to Wolf, who was being fussed over by several medics.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," growled Wolf. "There's nothing wrong with me – _now get them to leave me alone_!"

***

Emily whimpered quietly in fear as she saw Alex being taken away on a stretcher. He may not have been a friend of hers, but he was a nice guy – when he was around at least – and she couldn't believe that this was happening to someone she knew!

As quietly as she could, she followed.

She found him in an empty room. He looked so peaceful, as if he were merely asleep.

She looked him over. It was the first time she had had the opportunity in a while.

He was as gorgeous as everyone said. Short, blond hair – apparently he had washed the hair dye out; the Sergeant had probably made him – and perfectly proportioned features, complete with thick dark lashes resting on his pale cheeks. She couldn't see those deep, disturbing brown eyes.

But... after that things were starting to disturb her. He had large, purple bags under his eyes. His bare arms and legs had multiple bandages around them, probably from the fire, and bruises littered his muscled torso.

And speaking of muscles... they were gorgeous, she had to admit it, but they looked out of place on a fifteen year old. Most of them were covered in bruises, dark purple ones layered over ones that seemed to be gradually fading. None were as nasty as the one that ran around his neck though. She could see darker points, as if someone had tried to strangle him and that was where their fingers had been. A horrific scar occupied pride of place, right over his heart. She reached out a hand and traced its edge, wondering what had caused it. It looked as if someone had _shot_ him... but if he was shot there, there was no chance that he would have lived. With morbid fascination, she traced another scar that ran across his stomach.

A noise behind her made her pull a hand back as if burnt. She wasn't supposed to be here, she knew, and she had to hide. Throwing a quick look around the room, she rolled under the unoccupied bed, hidden in the shadows.

She listened to the footsteps getting closer. Someone was talking, though she could only hear one half of the conversation.

"No, the brat survived – the training finished early and Wolf rescued him... Yes, I'm on my way to finish the job, though I can't make it look like an accident... No, they won't trace it back to me – I've got one of the guns from the firing range. The prints of almost every soldier must be on it... The spy will be dead by morning. He won't even wake up... Goodbye, sir."

_Spy_? Emily put a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp at this revelation. Was Alex really a spy? Like, MI6? As for the rest, she didn't know what this guy was talking about, but it sounded serious.

She peered out of her hiding place and saw one of the soldiers standing there, though she didn't know him.

Her eyes widened as he pulled out a gun.

No, he couldn't be about to...

He lowered the gun at Alex.

With a scream she launched herself at him, latching herself around his shoulders, scrabbling at his arm.

"What the-?!" he shouted, startled, before reaching back her hand.

"What are you doing?" she screamed. "Help! HELP!"

There was the sound of running footsteps and the door burst open, just as the soldier threw Emily off and she slammed into the wall. He bent down to retrieve the gun, but was stopped by a bullet slamming into the floor by his hand.

He stood up, slowly, as a gun was pressed to his head.

Emily looked at the owner. It was Snake, one of the soldiers who had been helping Fox over the last few weeks, followed closely by Fox himself.

Fox looked around and saw her.

"Emily," he said, his voice soft and encouraging, so unlike when he was training them, even if it was strained from shock. "Are you ok?"

She nodded silently and shakily stood up.

"Come here," he ordered, frowning in concern. She walked towards him and when she swayed slightly, he reached out to steady her, fingering the back of her head.

"You might have concussion, I'll get one of the doctors to look you over."

"What shall I do with him?" asked Snake, questioningly, gesturing to the still unknown soldier held at gunpoint.

"Search him and put him in solitary."

Snake nodded and forced the soldier out of the room.

"Come on," said Fox. "Let's get you to a doctor."

***

_So I guess it's kind of out of the fire and into the frying pan. And yes, I know that traditionally it's the other way around, but Alex seems to be making _some _progress. He's not about to be burnt alive any more. Of course... people are still trying to kill him AND someone in his class found out who he is... I kinda feel sorry for him..._

_Not enough to let him off the hook though, sorry!_

_Please Review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update!_

_Ok, no I'll update on Monday or Tuesday. I hate people who hold chapters hostage, it's MEAN. But... review anyway. It makes me happy!_

_Oh... and if anyone else has an opinion on which story I should write next, tell me! The options are on my bio!_


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Ok, so yeah this is about a week late, sorry! I really don't have an excuse. I'll just give you the chapter, ok?_

_DISCLAIMER: Not mine. As usual._

_***_

Twenty minutes later, Emily rushed into the barracks the students were in.

"I know where Rider goes!" she gasped. Instantly, everyone stopped dead and stared at her. In the corner, Tom sat up nervously.

He stared hard at Emily, willing her to be wrong.

"You know that fire?" she began, "Well, he was in it."

"Wait, what?" said Tom, standing up. "Where is he?"

"In the infirmary – I went to visit him and some soldier came in with a gun. He said he was a spy. He was going to shoot him!"

Tom forced out a laugh, "Oh come off it. Alex is _not_ a spy. Why would anyone want to kill him?"

"I know what I saw," she said stubbornly.

"Yeah, sure," said Tom, acting for all he was worth. "Will you show me where they put him? I should go see him."

Emily nodded reluctantly, ignoring the babble of questions that were being spewed out by their classmates.

Outside, Tom grabbed her arm roughly.

"Come on," he muttered, furiously, and started to drag her towards the office.

"What? Where are we going?"

"To find the Sergeant."

"The _Sergeant?!"_ exclaimed Emily, starting to struggle even more. All the children were terrified of the Sergeant except, apparently, Tom.

But they were already there, and Tom hammered on the door urgently.

"What is this, a reception?" came an angry voice.

"Sorry sir," called Tom, "It's an emergency."

There was a startled oath and the door was pulled open.

"What are _you _doing here?" asked the Sergeant incredulously.

"It's about Cub, sir," said Tom, hoping the codename would get the Sergeant's attention.

Apparently it worked, because the Sergeant's eyebrows shot up and he let them passed. Fox and Snake were also in there.

"What is going on?" asked the Sergeant.

"Emily just burst into our barracks, claiming Alex was a spy and that someone had tried to assassinate him."

Fox cursed behind him and slapped his forehead. "I'm sorry, Sergeant, I didn't even think of it..."

"You idiot," snapped the Sergeant. "Did they believe it?"

Both of the teens shrugged. "We don't know, sir," said Tom.

"You are to speak of this to no-one again, understand?" snapped the Sergeant. "And if your class ask about it, you lied."

Emily nodded, terrified.

"Good, now sign this and get out of here." He turned to Tom. "You already knew?"

Tom nodded.

"Have you signed the official secrets act?"

Tom bit his lip.

"You haven't, have you?" accused the Sergeant, his eyes narrowing.

Reluctantly, Tom shook his head.

"You'll have to sign as well. Sorry."

Tom sighed and picked up a pen from the desk to sign the document offered, then turned to the Sergeant.

"Can I see him?"

***

Tom sighed as he looked down at his friend. It had taken quite a bit of persuading, but eventually the Sergeant had given in. Alex looked a mess. He was covered with bruises and bandages. And when had he gotten so thin? Tom frowned. Alex needed to eat more, that much was certain and if he had to talk to what's-his-name... Wolf, about it, then he would.

Eventually, Alex's eyes fluttered open.

"Tom!" he exclaimed, surprised.

"Hey, Al, how are you?"

Alex laughed, only for it to turn into a hacking cough half way through.

"How do I look?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Honestly? Like death... except far cuter."

Alex rolled his eyes. That comment was just so... Tom.

There was a cough by the door and the boys turned around to find Aikema and Wolf standing by the door.

"Do you mind giving us a minute alone?" Wolf asked Tom. "We need to talk to C- Alex."

"I'll catch you later, yeah?" said Alex, smiling at his friend.

"Yeah," agreed Tom, "don't try and disappear without me again, ok?"

Alex smiled. "Don't worry – I don't think anyone else is going to come back to life, do you?"

"Gods, I hope not," grinned Tom. "Think what would happen if people made a habit of it – the whole world would turn to chaos!"

Alex laughed and pushed his friend. Tom took the hint and left.

"Who came back to life?" asked Wolf, curiously, raising an eyebrow. Apparently whatever resentment and anger he had felt towards Alex had evaporated with Alex's near-death experience.

"My guardian... or rather she never died."

Wolf frowned. "Then why are you here? Why aren't you with her?"

Alex's face closed down. "They deported her."

"Oh, Jesus, Cub. I'm sorry, why?"

Alex shrugged. "An excuse to keep me here?" he suggested.

Wolf's face darkened.

"That isn't the issue, here, Wolf," reminded Aikema.

"What is the issue?" asked Alex, curiously.

"K-Unit's leave," said Aikema. "After the assassination attempt-"

"The WHAT?" yelled Alex.

"Erm, I don't think he had been told that yet," said Wolf, belatedly.

"The fire was started deliberately. When the would-be-assassin heard that you had survived, he came here to shoot you."

Alex blinked. "Scorpia?" he asked Aikema, who nodded. He swore under his breath.

"I thought I was supposed to be safe here?" he asked, morosely.

"You were. But Jack was also supposed to be dead, wasn't she?"

Alex nodded, a strange look flashing across his face. He preferred not to think about Jack at the moment – he still wasn't sure how he felt. He had just been coming to terms with her death when she is suddenly alive again and then before he can process _that_, she has been deported and he'll probably never see her again. And it was still his fault she was shot in the first place. He recalled her listless appearance when he first saw her and the guilt surged through him again. Whether she had died or not, he had still destroyed her life.

"Anyway," said Wolf, shifting uncomfortably ,"it has been decided that it is too dangerous for you to stay here with the same lose supervision that you're school mates receive, not to mention the problems you would have with your other training."

"So where will I be going?" asked Alex, relieved that he wouldn't be lumped with his class. That would have been hell.

"You will be staying with me," said Aikema. "I have a flat in London. We shall continue your tuition there."

Alex sighed, "Yes, sensei." He may as well agree; he didn't despise Aikema and he didn't really have a choice, after all. "Why wasn't this alternative considered earlier?" he asked, curiously. Wolf shifted uncomfortably, but neither of the men answered.

As Wolf and Aikema turned to leave, he called out to them, "Who was it?"

"Who?" asked Aikema.

"The assassin."

"Luke Atterberry... Jackal."

***

Emily was waiting outside the hut when Tom got back.

"I couldn't face them alone," she admitted. "I don't know how you can stand it – lying all the time, listening to all those rumours and not telling the truth..."

"I can because Alex needs me to," said Tom, coldly.

"Are you mad at me?" asked Emily in a small voice.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"_Why?_" exclaimed Tom, disbelievingly. "Have you any idea what you've done?! Don't you think Alex has it hard enough without everyone knowing the truth?"

"What- I – I mean, surely it must be cool, being a spy."

Tom sneered at her. "Oh come on, you've seen his scars – do you really think that getting them was _cool_ for Alex?"

Emily froze. "I- I didn't think," she said, her voice breaking slightly.

"Well that's not good enough," said Tom. "Now come on, pull yourself together. We've got a show to put on. You helped get Alex into this mess. The least you can do is help to get him out."

Tom pushed open the door and walked through.

"I still can't believe you said that," he muttered, just loud enough for someone to overhear.

"Said what?" asked a girl sitting near the door.

"That Alex was a spy and had just survived an assassination attempt. I've never heard such crap."

"It's a theory, isn't it?" protested Emily weakly.

"Yeah, well, not a very believable one," sneered Freeman. "Rider? A spy? Come _on._"

"I don't know," said Josh. "I never did believe he was a druggy... And it would explain the bruises, why he's always disappearing... how he managed to get away with blowing up the science block."

"And stealing that crane – did you lot hear about that?"

There was a flurry of nods and Tom cursed silently.

He didn't show his annoyance and instead raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on. Can anyone seriously imagine Alex being a spy? He's fifteen!"

"Actually..." said Josh slowly, "Yes."

Tom rolled his eyes. "You're mad, the lot of you."

Tom slipped into bed and turned to face the wall. This was going to take a while. He just hoped it would work in the end.

***

The heated conversation in his barracks died out as Wolf entered. Wolf glanced at the four men sat there.

"Fox," he greeted his old team mate. "Shouldn't you be watching the brats?"

Fox shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you lot. We need to talk about Alex."

Wolf scowled. "It's for the best."

"From what I hear you barely trust that guy with him here! How do you think you're going to manage to keep him safe in the middle of London?!"

"yeah, well we didn't do a fantastic job of keeping him safe here, either, did we?" snarled Wolf. "It's the best option."

"There was a reason we didn't consider him in the first place," said Snake, glaring at his unit leader.

"Yeah, and there's a reason we're considering him now," said Wolf. "Look, I don't like it anymore than you do, but – Jesus Christ! – the kid was nearly _assassinated._ Aikema is in the best position to protect him from that. He's better than any of us."

"And who's going to protect him from Aikema?" asked Fox, angrily.

"I don't think Cub'll need protection from him," said Eagle quietly.

"Oh?" said Snake, sarcastically. "What makes you say that?"

Eagle sighed. "It was when we stepped in over Cub's punishment. Remember I went to talk to him? Well..."

_***_

_A/N: So what did you think? Review and tell me!_


	19. Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: There are a lot of strange things in this world... platypus, underwater lakes, my brother... but an author who writes fanfiction is not one of them... ergo, I am not Anthony Horrowitz.

***

Wolf, Snake and Leopard stared at Eagle. He had just told them about Aikema's reasons for the severe punishments he had given to Alex.

"You mean," said Wolf hoarsely, "that Aikema _isn't_ a sadistic ego-maniac?"

Eagle nodded, "Strange, huh?"

"That's still not a good reason for doing what he did!" exclaimed Snake.

"Isn't it?" said Leopard. "If he thought that Cub would punish himself... or would develop some kind of guilt complex... At least under Aikema's supervision there wouldn't be any lasting harm to him."

Snake frowned. He didn't like it, that much was obvious, but he could see their point.

"And..." continued Leopard, "Has anyone seen Aikema mistreat Cub since then? I mean, Cub is careful, possibly excessively so, but he doesn't exactly seem _scared_ of him, does he? In fact, I'd say he actually respects the guy."

There was a thoughtful silence as the five men looked at one another.

Eventually Fox sighed. "It's not like we can do anything anyway. And I doubt Aikema is the same outside of here... Brecon Beacons is hardly normal circumstances."

Even Snake eventually nodded his agreement. Fox was right: they didn't have a choice, and just maybe, it was the right decision.

***

Alex was let out of the infirmary the next morning, after having all his burns and the wound on his leg checked. He went immediately to the room where he had his lessons with Aikema, having eaten in the infirmary.

The day was spent uneventfully, learning history, politics and maths in Chinese, and at dinner, Alex was only too happy to get out of the small, stuffy classroom. He walked through the fading sunshine, tempted to turn a handstand just for the hell of it.

He refrained and entered the mess hall, gathering his food and heading towards the table where K-Unit was sat.

Half way there a raised voice stopped him.

"Hey, Rider!"

He turned to face his class.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?" he snapped.

"That you're a spy and someone tried to kill you."

Alex blinked. The entire mess hall seemed to freeze in anticipation.

Inwardly, Alex rolled his eyes at the soldiers' subtlety.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said, innocently, faking extreme confusion.

"Are you a spy?" asked Josh.

Alex laughed. "No, where did you get _that_ ridiculous idea from?"

"I... erm, well... Emily said..."

"I said a random possibility," interrupted Emily, rolling her eyes. "I was bored of all the drug-and-gang rumours and wanted something to liven things up around here. I didn't think you'd take it so seriously."

"Hah, wish I was a spy," scoffed Alex, "It'd be so cool. I bet you'd get gadgets and everything!"

Some of the members of the class laughed and Alex smiled, relieved. Quietly, he backed away and started heading towards K-Unit, before a voice stopped him.

"Hey, why don't you eat with us today?"

Annoyance and resignation flickered over his face for a second, and he sent an apologetic smile to the watching K-Unit before returning to sit with his peers. It would look really odd if he didn't.

This was going to be hell.

***

Alex was right: the meal _was_ hell. As was the rest of the week. He got away with breakfast because he generally ate at least an hour before them, but every dinner, one of them would call to him to sit with them and then he would be bombarded with questions. When he threatened to sit elsewhere if they carried on, they didn't stop, merely becoming more subtle. They were trying anyway to get him to slip up and give solid proof of him being a spy but so far hadn't had much luck.

They had, however, gained a worrying amount of information about him. For example, they now knew that his uncle had taken him on adventure holidays, that his father worked in the SAS and that his mother had been a nurse. It was generally believed that even if he _wasn't_ a spy, he would be perfect for a job.

This led to him generally quit eating half way through the meal and dump his uneaten food in the bin.

That stopped on day three, when Tom pulled him into a seat and told him that he wasn't leaving until he had finished. Alex had scowled at him and had been about to lay into him about being able to look after himself... and then Tom had turned his patented puppy dog eyes on Alex, whining pitifully about how he was just worried about Alex, and Alex gave in.

It really was ridiculous. He could face down madmen who were after his blood, but couldn't say no to his best friend's obvious manipulation.

But finally, the end of the week came. Alex said goodbye to K-Unit with a brief half wave as they pulled away in their jeep and, duffle bag slung over his shoulder, went to find Aikema.

He found him in his room, lifting a single bag from the floor of the now-empty room.

"Ready to go, Cub?" he asked. Alex nodded and followed his tutor out.

They passed by the parking lot, and Alex paused, looking expectantly at Aikema.

Aikema raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't think we were driving, did you?" he asked amused.

Alex frowned in confusion and hurried after him. They ended up on the roof of the mansion, on the helipad.

"We're flying?" asked Alex and Aikema smiled.

"Not quite... you're flying."

"Erm, Sensei?" said Alex nervously. "Are you sure that that is a good idea? I mean... I've never been taught..."

"You've flown to London before, didn't you? And didn't crash. I'll teach you the easiest way to control it, and various manoeuvres, but from the sound of it, you already have the basics. I promise, you'll be fine."

Alex bit his lip for a minute, then smiled.

Flying helicopters was one thing Ian had never taught him. It looked as if he was finally going to learn.

***

The apartment was a stylish apartment on Queen Street, roughly equidistant from the Thames and the Royal and General. Alex wasn't sure how he felt about being so close to the bank, but he guessed it didn't mean that it was any easier for them to get hold of him – just that it was easier for him to go and see them if they called.

The apartment itself was minimalistic, and impersonal. The open plan living room and kitchen was a creation of chrome and granite and white paint. The floor was a pale wood, the sofa was black leather.

It was spacious, beautiful, elegant... and lifeless.

There were no personal touches anywhere; it looked like a show house, as if Aikema had simply bought the house with the furniture then not changed a thing.

"Been living here long?" he asked, casually.

"I moved in at the end of last October," said Aikema. "There is a guest bedroom through that door, then on your right. I apologise, I wasn't expecting guests, so the bed is not made, but there should be sheets in the closet."

Alex nodded and went to investigate.

The pale wood floor continued throughout the apartment, apparently. At least it continued through the small corridor and into his bedroom, and he assumed it continued into at least one of the other two rooms leading off the corridor. His room had a bed with chocolate brown sheets, once he had put them on, a dark wooden wardrobe and a desk.

Alex sighed and unpacked. He shoved his books on the desk, clothes and stuff in the cupboard and the small pile of stuff he had besides that, largely consisting of gadgets and toiletries, he shoved into the two draws of the bedside table.

It was still depressingly empty.

Maybe Aikema would let him go around to Chelsea and pick some stuff up? An iPod would be the favourite, and maybe a few pictures of Jack and Ian...

Ok, so not the pictures. He didn't trust Aikema enough for him to see something that personal.

Suddenly Alex realised exactly how Aikema must feel about having him here. No matter how they felt about someone, or how little a threat they perceived them as, no spy would be comfortable with opening their home to someone they had only know for a few months. It was probably why Aikema seemed to have shut down slightly when Alex had first entered the apartment, losing all the warmth he had slowly gained.

Alex felt renewed gratitude to Aikema for allowing him to stay here and, surprisingly, Ian, for taking a chance on a strange young woman for the good of his nephew. He had never realised how hard it must have been for Ian to trust a stranger like that.

He sighed and, taking one last look around the bare room, went back through to the living room.

Aikema was by the fridge. As Alex watched, he pulled a face and took something that could once have been a pepper out of the fridge.

"I guess you didn't have much notice about going to Beacons," said Alex smiling.

Aikema shook his head "I generally keep most of my stuff frozen, but there are always a few things that get left behind."

After disposing of some eggs, Aikema closed the fridge and opened the small door above it. He pulled out several small packages and studied them for a moment.

"Do you eat Paella?" he asked Alex.

Alex nodded, silently.

"Good," said Aikema, setting the food on the counter to defrost.

"I think we need to talk about how this is going to work," he said, looking at Alex. "At Brecon Beacons, I am your tutor, nothing more. Here, the lines are... less well defined. Obviously, things will be different. There will, of necessity, be less focus on your ninja training, though I will insert what exercises I can.

"Outside of training times, things will be less formal. The rest... we'll have to figure out as we go. Sorry, there isn't much in the fridge right now, I'll go shopping tomorrow."

Alex nodded.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Alex shrugged, smiling slightly.

Aikema rolled his eyes.

This was a completely different side of him, reflected Alex. He was probably just as uncomfortable as Alex – and Alex knew himself well enough to admit that his silence was purely because of this. He wasn't sure how he should act, and neither was Aikema. It was an unknown situation for both of them.

Ah well, it could be worse. He could still be at Brecon Beacons with his class.

***

_A/N: Ok, I'm sorry, I know it's been while. I just have a lot of things on my mind at the moment and so updating keeps slipping out of it. But I'm updating now, and you __**could **__be very nice and show your appreciation by reviewing...And, if I keep getting reviews, it'll keep reminding me to update!_


	20. Chapter 20

_Ok, so I'm too tired to think up something witty. Here's the chapter, I own nothing. Please review._

***

The meal was surprisingly tasty. Aikema was apparently a good cook and somehow Alex wasn't surprised. He seemed the type of man who could do anything if he put his mind to it. While eating, they worked out a timetable.

Aikema was an early riser and insisted that Alex got up at five o'clock for a three hour work out. He would then have an hour to eat and shower before lessons started at nine. The morning would be given over to academic studies which either continued the afternoon or were replaced by ninja and combat practice. That finished at half six, with a half an hour break around two o'clock for lunch. Dinner was at seven and then Alex could do as he liked until half ten, as long as Aikema knew where he was at all times.

Alex wasn't particularly worried about that. He didn't really have anywhere to go, or anyone to see. He'd probably just go for a walk, or maybe he'd go to the house in Chelsea and get some of his stuff. It didn't really matter.

They finished dinner quickly, in awkward silence and Alex cleared the plates and offered to do the washing up.

Aikema shook his head and gestured that Alex could leave.

"Can I go for a walk?" he asked, quietly.

Aikema nodded, then paused. "Wait, do you have a mobile?"

"Yeah – but it's at my house in Chelsea."

"Could you retrieve it soon?" requested Aikema. "Along with anything else you would like to have here, but couldn't take to Beacons."

Alex nodded his understanding.

"In the meantime..." said Aikema, reaching over to a kitchen draw and pulling something out. "Take this."

Alex looked at it. It was an old fashioned pager.

"If I need you back here, I'll contact you," said Aikema. "If you need me, there is a tracking device inside and you can activate it by flicking the switch on the side."

"Ok," agreed Alex, tucking the pager into his pocket.

"Have fun," called Aikema as he crossed to the sink.

Alex paused by the door and chuckled. "That's only one step away from asking how my day was, Sensei."

"Get out of here, you!" called Aikema and Alex ducked out of the door, just in time to avoid the wet sponge that was launched at him.

***

It was still light outside. It wouldn't go dark for a couple of hours yet. The streets were quiet. It was that twilight time between the after-workers going home and the all-nighters coming out. Alex felt out of place in his military style combats and tight T-shirt. Here in London, his only aim was to hide, to sink into the background. He didn't belong in this world. It was too normal. Somewhere between Jack being deported and moving in with Aikema he had accepted that. He had been forced to.

He had killed people and people had tried to kill him. He had lost his childhood and he was starting to acknowledge that. But he wasn't an adult yet. He knew the day that he would be one: the day he pointed a gun at a human being and pulled the trigger; the day that he gave up the last piece of his soul to his duty.

But that day hadn't come yet and he was stuck in between the two. He sighed and looked around him. There was a subway station not far off; he could see it at the end of the street.

Maybe he should go to Chelsea now.

Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

***

An hour or so later he was once again walking on the streets around Aikema's flat, this time with a rucksack slung over one shoulder.

Inside he had crammed a few less military-style clothes, a pair of trainers, his phone and a few other creature comforts that he had been unable to take to the SAS. Swathed in a black hoodie that partially hid his face and with his iPod shoved in his pocket blasting out rock music, he felt cut off from the world, safe and insulated. He was immune to the odd looks he was getting for wearing such a thick jumper on such a warm day. He just needed the protection. He didn't expect them to understand.

Spontaneously, he turned down a side street, slipping through gaps between bins and walls and banged up old cars. Voices called out to him from shadowed doorways but he ignored them and pushed onwards, finally breaking out into sunshine again, only to find he had left the city behind, or at least that was how it seemed.

It was a park, a battered adventure playground was over in the far corner and four posts marked the edge of two goals directly in front of Alex. Some boys his age were playing football.

Alex looked at them curiously. They were laughing and panting with exertion as the chased one another from one end of the pitch to the other.

Slowly they became aware of their uninvited spectator and one of them jogged over.

"Who are you?" he asked, curiously and slightly rudely.

"Alex," said Alex.

"Not seen you around here before."

"I haven't been around here before."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Alex grinned: a lot of people had been saying that to him today.

"ok, so you don't talk, I've got that, but do you play footie? We've got uneven sides and could use another player."

Alex's grin widened.

"I play," he admitted, "But not unless I know your name."

"I'm Matt," grinned Matt. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

Matt jogged back to the game closely followed by Alex, once he had dumped his bag and hoodie on the sidelines.

"Ok, everyone, this is Alex! Alex this is..."

There were a whole list of names, most of which Alex forgot as soon as he heard them.

Matt, Chris, Mike and Andy seemed to form the core of the group though, and Alex found himself liking the four boys immensely. There was no pressure here. Nothing for him to hide because they weren't looking for anything. He was free to be himself... if he still knew who that was.

He was on Matt and Andy's team along with two other boys called Muizze and Tim.

With two teams of five, the game resumed.

They played for what felt like hours and even Alex had sweat dripping off him when the two teams finally collapsed to the ground.

"Hey," panted Chris after a moment or two. "There's a nice cafe around the corner. You want to go get a drink or something?"

"Sounds good," said Mike standing up and pulling Matt to his feet.

"What about the rest of you?" asked Chris turning to the other boys.

"Sorry," said Muizze, "My mum wants me back – apparently I have to babysit my brat sister, tonight."

"Aw, don't be so mean, Muizze," smiled Tim. "Louisa is cute. You know you love her really." Muizze pulled a face. "Tell you what, how about I come over and keep you company?"

"Ok, so that's you two out," said Mike as Muizze smiled at his friend. "How about you, Andy?"

Andy smiled and nodded, but the others all had somewhere else to be.

"So it's just us four?" asked Matt, apparently disappointed. "Hey – Alex, what about you?"

Alex looked up surprised. "I didn't know I was invited."

"Of course you are. You helped us trounce Mike for the first time in, like, three months!"

Alex laughed and stood up. "Ok, then."

***

It was quarter past ten when he got back to Aikema's flat and the agent was slumped on the couch watching the end of some TV programme.

It was funny. Alex had never really imagined Aikema watching TV. If he had had to pick a past time for him, it would have been reading something. One of the classics maybe, or a non-fiction book. Not watching late night TV.

"You have to be up in under seven hours," said Aikema without looking up.

"Ok," said Alex, taking the hint and heading straight for his room to sleep. It had been one hell of a day.

***

The next day dawned bright and early and found Alex returning from a one hour run. This was followed by a series of press-ups, sit ups, squat thrusts and other mat exercises for an hour and a half before finishing off with his karate katas. He was dripping with sweat when he climbed into the shower and starving hungry when he climbed out and went through to the kitchen to bolt down a bowl of cereal before his lessons started.

The morning passed uneventfully, the hours taken up by the three sciences and a brief recap of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. At lunch, (Locro de Queso, a potato and cheese soup from Ecuador. Apparently Aikema's cooking skills were international) Aikema and Alex ate quickly and predominately silently, until Aikema finally lay down his spoon.

"I want to test how much you have actually learnt," he said.

Alex looked up, curiously. Was he talking about testing his ninja skills? Or maybe his fitness?

"I have some exams for you to take."

Alex raised an eyebrow. _Academic_ exams? That was unexpected.

"You will be doing English, Maths and Geography this afternoon. You will finish about seven o'clock."

"Where am I working?" asked Alex.

"The desk in your room would be ideal," said Aikema, "but you will need to bring all your textbooks through here first."

Alex pulled face. He may be eager to learn, but he still hated exams.

***

At seven o'clock, when Aikema had ended the exam, Alex was grinning like an idiot. For the first time in over a year, he had been able to do an exam. He had understood every question and had been able to answer almost all of them. He had even finished his maths exam ridiculously early – so early in fact that Aikema had given in and given him the next exam half an hour early – after Alex had checked.

Aikema raised an eyebrow at the smile. "So it went well?" he asked.

"I think so," said Alex, happily.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Aikema.

"I thought I'd go to the park. I met some people there yesterday. Thought I'd see if they were there again."

"Have fun."

Alex rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone and iPod, heading for the door. Honestly, what happened to the mysterious and intimidating agent?

***


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: *sneaks in and glances around guiltily* Yeah, I'm sorry. It's been a while... I meant to update every Friday, but obviously I'm not as good at deadlines as I thought. Ah well, here's your next chapter. I hope you like it. We're now definitely on the downhill towards the end. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Some people say that we don't really own anything – that ownership is a mass delusion. They're wrong. Anthony Horowitz definitely own Alex Rider, which means that I don't. I'm just playing.

***

By Saturday, Alex was sick of exams. He had done multiple exams in every subject. Especially the languages. But tonight it was Saturday night, and he was going to the cinema with Matt, Mike and Chris. Andy couldn't go, unfortunately. His parents had insisted on doing something 'as a family'. He had been complaining about it ever since he found out.

In fact, he had better get going. It was already seven fifteen and he was supposed to be meeting them soon.

"I'm going to the cinema!" he called to Aikema, as he left.

"Back by eleven!" Aikema called back and Alex nodded as he ducked out of the door.

***

"Alex!" called Matt when he entered the brightly lit lobby.

Alex grinned and crossed to the three boys waiting for him. There were some other people there too, he noticed as he got closer. Vaguely, he recognised Henry, one of the boys who had been there at the first football match and there were several girls at the back of the group.

"Hey, you remember Henry, don't you?" said Mike as he walked over. Alex nodded

"Hi, nice to see you again," he said, receiving a warm smile in return.

"And this is Grace - she's dating Matt - and her friends, Ellie and Jess."

"Hi," greeted Alex, smiling at them.

Ellie blushed slightly and smiled at him. Alex cocked an eyebrow at her. She was pretty, in a conventional sort of way. Shoulder length blond hair, straightened he guessed, brown eyes and a cute nose. And a smile that made his stomach twist.

He looked away quickly, hoping he wasn't blushing, and came face to face with Jess.

Of all the luck. She went to his school, the year below him, he thought. Alex only knew who she was because Tom fancied her best mate.

"Rider," she said coldly.

"You two know each other?" asked Chris mildly, taken aback by the icy venom in her tone.

"Not really, we've never even spoken," said Alex, as the exact same time as Jess spoke.

"He goes to my school."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Right, got it. We'll sit you two at opposite ends of the group ok? Now let's go get the tickets."

***

The room was dark and the film was making Alex cringe. It starred an obnoxious American as a teenage spy who had to go and uncover a plot in a music academy. It had _spy camp,_ for Christ's sake!

He sighed and slowly became aware of the girl sitting next to him. True to his word, Matt had jokingly forced Alex and Jess into seats as far away from each other as possible which meant that the girl leaning in towards him was Ellie.

Alex swallowed nervously. Should he put his arm around her? Would she want him to? Would she think he was being too forward? He flicked his eyes towards her. She was looking at the film, but her hand was just touching his. Did that mean she wanted him to?

Gods, this was complicated. Give him a madman to take down any day. Cautiously, he put his hand over hers and she flashed him that dazzling smile.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently he had made the right move.

The film passed and somehow Alex managed to progress to having his arm around Ellie without having a nervous breakdown. Alex was disgusted to see that the spy got the girl. Like that didn't just scream unprofessional.

The lights came back up and Alex dropped his arm as Ellie stood up. He grabbed her jacket and bag and passed them to her, receiving a smile in thanks.

Just let him get through this without completely embarrassing himself and he'd be happy.

"Look, I'm sorry, guys," said Grace. "I have to get back. Mum and Dad will kill me if I miss curfew again."

"You're going on your own?" asked Matt, frowning.

"No, Ellie is coming over tonight, aren't you, girl?"

"If I'm still welcome," said Ellie, "You promised you'd show me that new dress you got, remember?"

"Still," said Alex. "Just two of you? Pretty dangerous, isn't it?"

"Look," said Matt. Why don't me and Alex walk you home? That way you'll definitely get there and we don't have to stay here and pretend like we're not going crazy with worry."

"Stop exaggerating," said Grace, giving her boyfriend a thwack on the arm. "We'll be fine."

"Please, babe?" he said, pouting.

Alex thought he looked ridiculous, but Grace caved in anyway.

"Oh, fine. Come on then."

Alex and Matt grinned in triumph and followed the girls out of the lobby.

"Wait!" called a voice.

It was Jess.

"What do you want?" sighed Alex.

She ignored him and turned to Ellie. "You're seriously going to go with _Rider?_" she asked incredulously. "He's a freak!"

"Says who?" retorted Matt angrily.

"Says the entirety of our school!"

"Because of course the school grape vine is the source of all knowledge," said Alex, angrily and sarcastically. "You don't even know me!"

"Look," said Grace. "If Matt trusts him, that's good enough for me. He's hardly going to kill us, is he?"

"Just hanging around with him can be dangerous," said Jess, "His entire family is dead. They _shot_ his guardian."

Alex suddenly felt overwhelming anger coursing through his veins.

"I really don't think it's your place to tell us that," said Matt quietly. "I think you should butt out and mind your own business."

"Thanks," murmured Alex as the group turned and left the cinema.

"No problem, mate. Sorry to hear about your guardian."

Alex smiled, "Thanks, but she's not dead. Her visa ran out and she had to move back to America."

"So, where do you live now?" asked Ellie, curiously.

"Erm... friend of my Uncles... they used to work together."

"Wow, you have just managed to tell us everything while telling us absolutely nothing," commented Grace.

Alex grinned. "He's called Aikema. He's... a good cook... he erm... well, what do you want to know?"

"Age?"

"Err, around forty?"

"Jesus, you really do know like nothing about him, do you?" said Matt, rolling his eyes. "You know you're absolutely hopeless, don't you?"

"Hey!" protested Alex, shoving into Matt. Matt laughed and shoved him back. Alex stumbled slightly and supported himself by grabbing the wall.

He straightened up cautiously. Something was wrong. His neck was prickling and after the assassination incident he had learnt to trust it.

Matt took a bemused step towards him. "Alex? You ok, mate?"

Alex suddenly became aware of how alone they were, of how quiet the street was.

"How far are we from your house?" he asked Grace.

"Couple of blocks," said Grace with a shrug. "Why?"

"You need to get there as fast as you can. Run."

"What? Why?" said Ellie, alarmed.

"Something's wrong," said Alex, his eyes flicking around. "Just trust me, ok?"

"We're not going anywhere until you explain what you mean," said Matt, firmly, but Alex wasn't listening. He was completely stiff, eyes gazing unseeing at the dark street, every particle of his being focused on that unreliable sixth sense.

"Duck," he said, before throwing himself to the ground.

He landed painfully on the concrete, and a bullet slammed into the concrete, not an inch from his hand. Had he been standing, it would have gone right through his head.

Grace screamed, and Alex realised that none of them had hit the floor.

"Run!" he roared, leaping to his feet and leading the way down the street.

This time, they didn't question him. They ran, as fast as they could, their feet pounding into the tarmac.

Another bullet whizzed past his ear and Alex rolled on reflex, regaining his feet and carrying on running without a break in his movement.

"What the hell is going on?" screamed Grace.

"Just run!" yelled Alex. "Where's your house?"

"There!" screamed Grace, pointing to a house at the end.

They sprinted to the door and Alex pushed them through. There was a mini parked in the driveway.

"Can I borrow this?" he asked, crossing to the door.

He didn't wait for an answer, simply sliding into the driving seat and hot wiring the engine.

"Can you even drive?!" screamed Grace.

"Trust me!" he called over his shoulder as he sped out of the driveway.

***

Aikema looked up as Alex burst through the doorway.

"They're coming," he said and Aikema leapt up from the sofa. He crossed quickly to the cupboard and pulled out a gun from the otherwise empty shelf. He crossed to the phone and dialled a number.

"Mr Blunt? This is Agent Aikema. Scorpia are on their way here. Please send back up." There was a pause. "Thank you, sir."

He hung up. "Go and get anything that might help ok?" he said.

"Give me a gun!" said Alex.

"Would you really be able to shoot them?" asked Aikema seriously. Alex bit his lip. "I didn't think so," said Aikema, understandingly. "Go and get whatever offensive gadgets you can."

Alex nodded and took off.

He returned to the living room at the same time the door was kicked open.

Aikema stopped the first round of attackers with bullets, but soon they were overwhelmed, and Alex found himself fighting, hand to hand with an opponent. Aikema was still firing off shots whenever he could, but in such close quarters, the enemy would have more likelihood of hitting an ally than their target and so were avoiding the deadly ranged weapons

He felled his opponent with a blow to the temple and turned, just in time to see Aikema fall to the ground, the silvery hilt of a knife protruding from his stomach.

"NO!" yelled Alex, dashing to the fallen agent's side. "No," he whispered. This man had opened his home to him, helped him learn everything he would need to escape from MI6. He couldn't die. Alex couldn't have another death on his conscience. He heard a footstep behind him and remembered the Scorpia agents surrounding him.

Unconsciously, he reached out a hand for the gun. His fingers closed around the handle. It felt... right.

He rose to his feet and fired.

Once. Twice. Three times. Four times.

And four bodies hit the floor, each with a bullet wound over their heart.

Alex turned to the fifth and final agent. With a flash of recognition, he recognised Walker. They had trained together on Malagasto.

He raised the gun and fired. One bullet, straight through the middle of his forehead. No doubts. No regrets.

Walker's body collapsed. The flat was empty apart from Alex, and the bodies of the dead. Alex let the gun fall from his hand, tumbling to the ground. It landed with a clatter.

His ears heard a sound and he turned.

"Aikema!" he gasped, stumbling to his teacher's side.

"A-Alex," stammered Aikema. "Forgive me..."

"There's nothing to forgive," said Alex. "You're going to be fine. _Fine_. Help is on its way. They'll be here soon. You'll be fine."

"No... I'm dying. I can feel it," whispered Aikema. "Please... forgive me, Alex. For everything... I just... I wanted to make you strong. To make you a survivor... to make up for what I did to you..." Alex frowned, confused, and Aikema raised a hand and brushed it over Alex's t-shirt, directly over where his bullet wound was.

"No..." whispered Alex, disbelievingly.

"Yes... I worked for Scorpia. I was sent to kill you. But it was wrong. I knew it was wrong." Aikema paused and drew in a deep, gurgling breath. When he spoke, his voice was even quieter. "I-I didn't want to kill you... you reminded me... you reminded me of my son. But... I had to... you know the stakes when you work for th- them... I was so... grateful... when... I missed... I had done my job and you... weren't dead. But... they killed them anyway. My wife... my beautiful son. He was your age... so beautiful, so brave... and they murdered him. As they would have had me murder you..."

Aikema's monologue gave way to a deep, hacking cough and blood frothed out of his mouth. Tearfully, caringly, Alex wiped away the blood that trickled down his chin.

"Just hold on..." he whispered. "They'll be here soon. They'll heal you."

"No, it's too late... for me," gasped Aikema. "Just tell me that you forgive me... for what I did to you... I joined MI6 the next day... Everything... I have done... since then... has been to repay my debt to you... my pupil... Please, forgive me..."

Alex wiped tears from his cheeks. "I forgive you, Sensei... I forgive you for everything."

Aikema sighed and relaxed.

"No!" said Alex, desperately. "No! Hold on, Sensei. You can't die! They're –they're coming! Hold on!"

But it was too late. With a final sigh, Aikema's head fell back, his eyes glassy.

"No..." whispered Alex, tears pouring unabashedly down his cheeks. After a moment, he rose to his feet and raced to the door, uncaring of his bloody appearance.

***

_A/N: So, what did you think? Slightly nervous as I'm not very good at action and I think it might be a bit melodramatic. I'll update next Wednesday, assuming my fiancé doesn't decide to hack into my account again and block me out. (It took me ages to get him to tell me the password and then I had to change the email back and think up a new password. It seems that it is far too easy for my nearest and dearest to access my things. Grr.)_

_Anyways, Review!_


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Ok, so first of all I want to apologise to anyone whose review I replied to yesterday. I was in a very strange mood. I blame caffeine, lack of sleep and... erm... ok yeah that's a really bad excuse. I'm just sorry._

_On the plus side, I actually have a proper Beta for this now, so thanks go out to prone2dementia for all her help._

_B/N (beta-note): "Remember, if you kill the author after this chapter, you will never get to read the rest of the story"_

_I have to admit I am in complete and utter agreement. Don't kill me!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider._

***

Alex burst through the large glass doors that lead to the lobby of the Royal and General Bank. The receptionist screamed at his appearance. He was still covered with blood and had hints of a black eye forming.

An anxious Mrs Jones was already hurrying across the lobby.

"Where were you?!" he yelled, distraught.

"Alex! Alex! Calm down," begged Mrs Jones, desperation obvious in her voice

"No!" screamed Alex. "I will not calm down. He _called _you. He _told_ you they were coming. AND YOU STILL DIDN'T COME. And so he's _dead_. Is that what you _wanted? _Are you _happy_ now?"

Mrs Jones didn't respond.

"WELL?" he screamed. "_Are you?!"_

"Alex, I have no idea what you are talking about!" exclaimed Mrs Jones.

"Oh don't give me that _bullshit_," snarled Alex. "All you ever do to me is _lie!_ I _heard_ him tell you! You said they were on their way!"

"Who did Aikema speak to, Alex?" asked Mrs Jones quietly.

"Blunt himself!" said Alex. "So don't try that whole 'we didn't get the message' crap."

Mrs Jones' face hardened and she lifted a radio from her waist belt.

"Jackson, Hardingham. Please go to Mr Blunt's office and prevent him from leaving."

***

Mrs Jones walked quickly down the corridor. MI6 had rooms for everything within its walls – one never knew what might prove necessary. This included several bedrooms, in one of which Alex now resided. Mrs Jones had wanted him to be placed in one after his attempt to leave the country, but Blunt had insisted on a cell.

She knocked politely on the door and pushed it open.

Alex was sitting on the bed in the room, staring at the floor with a blanket wrapped around him. He was clean now, but the absence of blood only highlighted the unhealthy white of his skin.

"Alex?" she said cautiously.

He didn't move.

"Blunt escaped. I am sorry. He has officially been suspended, awaiting trial on charges of treason."

Still, there was no sign that he had heard her.

Nervously, she unwrapped a peppermint and popped it into her mouth.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he spoke.

"I killed them," he said. "All of them. I promised myself. No doubts. No regrets. I thought... I thought that if they were dead, then you could get to Aikema faster... that maybe he would live... but you weren't coming. It was all for nothing."

Mrs Jones sighed compassionately and opened her mouth to apologise again, but he cut her off.

"Why do I still not feel guilty? They were human beings – I trained with one of them – Walker. He had an older sister. A little nephew who he adored. And I put a bullet through his head." He paused, then hissed, "So, why don't I feel guilty? What kind of monster _am_ I?"

Mrs Jones licked her lips.

"It's understandable," she began. "With everything you have been through recently... When someone experiences as much as you have, it is not uncommon for their emotions to shut down until their brain can process everything properly."

Alex looked at her with cold, dead eyes.

"Do you really believe that?" he asked quietly.

In the face of such despair, Mrs Jones found herself unable to answer. What had they done to this poor child?

No, he wasn't a child any longer. She could see it in his eyes.

"I'll get something to help you sleep," she said quietly, and walked out, unable to face her agent.

***

Two days later, Alex had returned to the house in Chelsea. Mrs. Jones had been opposed to the idea, but realistically he did not have anywhere else that he could go. He couldn't stay at the bank forever, and there hadn't been time for Mrs Jones to find a temporary guardian for him, not while the man-hunt for Blunt still continued.

It was a relief to be back within the familiar four walls, though every corner seemed to hide a reminder of Jack, Ian and the life he had led before MI6. But he couldn't feel the pain. He couldn't feel the guilt. He couldn't feel anything. It was as if he was balancing right on the edge of a black abyss of despair and that any breath of emotion could push him over the edge.

He longed to feel something, _anything. _Even pain. He craved the guilt he should feel for murdering the Scorpia agents. Anything to let him know he was still human, not a monster.

But he felt nothing.

Numbness.

This was the first time he had returned here since before Jack 'died', barring a brief visit to collect his things. It felt cold and unused. Abandoned, like him. He wandered through to the kitchen. Someone had obviously come in and tidied up; there was still washing up on the draining board. He crossed to the dishes and began to put them away. As he put the frying pan back in the cupboard, he idly wondered if it had been there ever since he went to Brecon Beacons.

He walked back across the kitchen and picked up a knife before heading for the appropriate draw. Had Jack been washing up when they had taken her?

He could see the scene. Jack at the sink, the stereo on high as she always had it when she was cleaning, probably singing along. She would never have heard them, never have known they were there, until they grabbed her.

The knife dropped from his hand.

Alex swore and caught it, only to swear more loudly as the blade dug into his palm. He shook his head and moved to wash the knife, then paused, transfixed by the sight of the dark blood on his pallid palm. His breathing became laboured, as if the air was suddenly made of treacle.

Focus on the pain.

Anything apart from the numbness.

Slowly he moved to sit at the table, gaze still pinned to the red slash on his hand.

Slowly, deliberately, he lifted the knife and traced the deep cut.

It hurt.

He lifted the knife again and dug the point into his skin, sketching a line parallel to the first. Sketching in his blood.

The pain. This was how he was supposed to feel. This was-

What the hell was he _doing?_! He wasn't some depressed teen who wanted to slit his wrists.

Hastily, he flung the bloody knife in the sink and fled into the living room.

Pulling the first aid kit out from under the TV, he set about bandaging up his hand.

He supposed that he had better call Matt and check he was ok. He hadn't contacted him since the incident in the alley.

He fumbled around in his pocket until he found his phone, then dialled Matt's number.

It rang for ages, only to go to voicemail.

"Hi, Matt. It's Alex. I just wanted to make sure you and Grace and Ellie are ok. I- I understand if you hate me – I'm not too keen on me either right now. I- I hope you're all ok... and I... I'm sorry you had to be involved... I- Yeah... well. Bye."

He hung up the phone.

He glanced at the kitchen door over his shoulder, then shook his head. Ignoring the fact that it was still early, he headed up to bed.

***

It was the cold morning sun streaming through the open windows that woke him. It seemed alien, dangerous somehow, even as it banished the nightmares that had plagued him in the dark.

Downstairs, he looked unenthusiastically at the cupboard containing the cereal and left it unopened.

At a loss for what to do now that he actually _had_ free time, he turned on the TV, vaguely remembering that it was something 'normal' teens seemed to enjoy. It was a cooking programme. He had seen Aikema watch it occasionally.

Instantly his finger jabbed down on the standby button and the screen went blank. He rose to his feet and headed into the kitchen. He put away the washing up he had started on last night on automatic, then picked up the knife in the sink. It still had his blood on it, a dark stain on the silver blade.

His fingers closed naturally around the handle as he studied the blade. The knife was perfectly balanced in his palm. He could kill with this knife, he reflected dully. That was all he was: a murderer; a monster who didn't feel the pain he deserved.

Quickly, he slashed the blade across his bare wrist, welcoming the pain that flooded him with a gasp of relief. This was how he was supposed to feel.

He made another mark, parallel to the first. And another, slowly this time, focusing intently on the feeling of the blade slicing the tender flesh of his wrist.

The pain made him clench his teeth as he stared at the blood dripping over his hand.

A noise made him jump and he recognised the sound of someone at the door. He placed the knife in the sink and ran his wrist under cold water to wash away the blood.

Whoever was at the door was obviously impatient; with the short wait, the pounding had doubled in volume and intensity.

Slightly annoyed, Alex went to answer it. He gasped in surprise.

"Matt?"

***

_A/N: Hope this answers a few questions! Please review and tell me what you think!_


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Ok so I should probably rename this excuses instead of A/N... I really am sorry. I had exams and decided I wanted to concentrate on them rather than fanfiction as this is the _second_ time I've had to take them. Ok, so I didn't _have_ to retake them, but I was reapplying anyway. But my exams finished a week ago and I was planning to update last Friday. But I didn't. Obviously. I am really, really sorry and to show you how sorry I am I've started posting another of my fics. It's called Past of Shadows and at the moment I have already completed part one. So... after you read this go read that!_

_Ok sorry, that was a shameless plug. Ah well, need to encourage readers somehow, right?_

_Anyway, big thanks to prone2dementia for beta-ing and to everyone who reviewed the last chapter for reminding me that I needed to update._

_And I really am sorry._

_And now..._

_DISCLAIMER: Not mine, as usual._

***

"Alex," said Matt, a small smile crossing his face. "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Alex, opening the door fully. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," confirmed Matt. "So are Grace and Ellie. A bit freaked, but ok."

"That's good," said Alex.

There was a pause. Neither of them seemed to know what to say.

"Why are you here?" asked Alex, eventually, "How did you get this address?"

"Jess got me the address," admitted Matt. "She phoned around half of Brooklands before she found someone who knew it. And... I'm here because I was worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Alex frowned, confused. "Why would you be worried about me – I thought you would hate me for what happened."

"Why wouldn't I be worried about you?!" exclaimed Matt. "The last time I saw you, you were being shot at! It's not even you who returns Grace's mum's car, just some suit who doesn't talk. And then I get that message where you sound completely lifeless! How the hell could I not be worried?"

Alex felt the faintest hint of confusion through the numbness, and ran a hand through his hair as he thought.

But before he could form some kind of reply, Matt had grabbed his wrist and pulled it forward.

"What is this?" he asked quietly, looking at the fresh, obviously deliberate, cuts on Alex's wrist and the blood-stained bandage on his hand.

"Nothing," said Alex, defensively, pulling his wrist back.

"Jesus, Alex," said Matt, "What _happened_ that night?"

"I-" began Alex, but then cut himself off. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to be completely honest with Matt, but he knew that he couldn't be. He would never believe him. He would never understand. "I can't tell you," sighed Alex, suddenly weary.

He just wanted it all to be over – the lying, the deceit, all of it. He never wanted to hold a gun again, never wanted to look at a knife as a potential weapon instead of a useful tool.

"Well," said Matt frowning, "where's your guardian, then? Aikema or whatever his name was."

Immediately, all expression left Alex's face. "He's dead," he said shortly.

Matt's eyes widened in horror. "What? How?"

"I can't tell you that," said Alex. He couldn't think up a lie right now. He didn't have the motivation.

"So who's looking after you know?"

Alex mused briefly on how unusual it was for someone to simply accept 'I can't tell you that' as an answer, especially in something this serious, _especially_ when said person had been _shot_ _at_.

"What? Can't tell me that either?" joked Matt.

"I don't know," said Alex, finally, "No-one, I guess."

"_No-one_?" repeated Matt incredulously. "But you're _fifteen!_"

Alex shrugged, and Matt collapsed onto the sofa.

"Just who are you?" he asked, confusion obvious on his face.

Alex paused, unsettled by the question, pondering what answer he should give. Eventually, he settled on the truth. "I don't even know anymore," he admitted. "But I'm not worth your worry. You should leave. It's dangerous for you to be around me."

Matt frowned. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Rider."

Alex opened his mouth to respond, though he didn't have a clue what he was going to say, but was interrupted by someone banging on the door.

When Alex didn't move for a minute, Matt shifted uneasily. "I'll get that, shall I?"

He stood up and walked towards the door. Just before he pulled it open, he heard an angry voice from the other side.

"Cub! Open the goddamn door, will you?"

Confused, he pulled open the door. Four burly men stood there; they looked like soldiers, all with short haircuts and military style clothes, though apparently lacking actual uniform.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the one nearest Matt, the one who had been banging on the door from the looks of his raised fist.

"Matt," said the aforementioned boy calmly. "Who are you?"

"None of your business, kid," muttered the soldier. "Where's C- Alex?"

Just then, Alex appeared behind Matt, apparently over hearing them and realising he should intervene.

"Wolf?" he asked.

"Cub," said Wolf, relief obvious on his face as he saw his final team mate. "Mrs Jones told us what happened the other night. We thought we should come and see how you are."

"Can we come in?" asked one of the other men.

Alex nodded slowly and Matt pulled open the door to let them passed.

"Who's the kid?" asked another soldier, curiously.

"This is Matt. Matt, this is Wolf, Eagle, Snake and Leopard."

"You're soldiers," stated Matt.

"Good observations, kid," grunted Wolf.

"Oh, I don't know, the army jeep in the driveway was a bit of a giveaway," smirked Matt.

Leopard laughed. "I like the kid already," he exclaimed.

Snake, meanwhile, was looking intently at Alex.

"I should give you a medical," he said finally.

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Snake."

"That would hold more weight if last time you said it you hadn't collapsed from an injured leg," growled Snake, jerking his head towards the other room.

Alex sighed and followed the medic out, leaving Matt alone with three intimidating soldiers, none of whom looked too happy.

"So you said you were called Matt?" said Wolf, suddenly.

Matt nodded.

"How did you meet Cub?" asked Leopard, curiously. "I mean, his f-"

He cut himself off when Wolf gave him a sharp kick.

"Cub?" asked Matt, bemusedly.

"Alex," clarified Wolf, scowling fiercely at Leopard.

"I met him last week in the park."

Wolf looked at him. "You don't seem surprised to see us," he said slowly.

"I'm not," admitted Matt.

"Why not?" asked Wolf, suspiciously.

"Because last time I saw Alex, someone was shooting at him. I don't know what he does, but whatever it is, he can't tell me and it is dangerous."

"Do you have any guesses?"

Matt frowned. "Well, I would have said he was in some kind of gang, but I don't think Alex is the type, and you four suggest it has some connection with the government... I know it sounds crazy, but... if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was some kind of spy."

Leopard's eyebrows rose. "Smart kid," he murmured.

Matt shrugged. "We saw Agent Cody Banks at the cinema last Saturday; I think I've just got spies on the brain."

"You know that you can't tell anyone, right?"

Matt sighed and nodded. "I kind of guessed."

They were interrupted by an angry yell from next door.

"What the _hell,_ Cub?!"

Wolf exchanged worried glances with his team mates and crossed to the door.

He pulled it open.

Alex was standing there, shirtless, his still bleeding wrist grasped in Snake's hand.

"Well, Cub?" said Snake, intently. "Care to explain?"

***

A/N: So what did you think? I'll update on Friday or Saturday, no matter what. I don't believe in withholding chapters. But reviews make me happy so please... review? Tell me what you think?


	24. Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.

***

Matt left shortly after that, practically chased out of the house by the mixed atmosphere of concern and anger. He felt slightly happier now that he knew Alex had people who cared about him – he just wished they had gotten there a little sooner. Alex shouldn't have been left alone after his guardian died.

Alex, meanwhile, was stubbornly insisting that he did _not_ need to go to a therapist; Wolf was firmly telling him that he was going anyway and Eagle was on the phone to MI6 arranging it, while Snake bandaged up the cuts on his wrist, and replaced the bandage on his hand.

"We should give you a first aid course," he muttered, eyeing the shoddy job Alex had done on his hand.

"I did do it with one hand," pointed out Alex, grumpily.

Eagle came back into the room.

"Right," he said. "Cub has an appointment with the therapist tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?!" exploded Alex. "I am NOT going!"

"You're going," said Wolf, "Even if I have to tie you up and throw you in the car, got it?!"

Alex stormed out of the room. A minute later, they heard the bedroom door slam.

"So what do we do now?" asked Leopard.

"Well, we can't leave," said Snake immediately. "He could do anything."

"Probably run away again," muttered Wolf sourly.

Snake sent him a warning look.

"But we can't leave," sighed Wolf. "He's just a kid, but that doesn't mean he's not a member of our team."

"He needs us," said Eagle simply.

"I'll go talk to him," volunteered Leopard. "See if I can get him to agree, and where we can sleep either way."

"Good idea," grunted Wolf.

***

Alex looked up as Leopard knocked on the door.

"What do you want?" he asked moodily.

Yes, Alex Rider was sulking. He thought he had reason enough.

"Where do you keep the sheets?" asked Leopard. "We thought we'd put some on the sofa and make up the beds up here, ok?"

"You're staying?" asked Alex, surprised.

A look of compassion passed briefly over Leopard's face.

"We're not going to leave you alone, Cub," he said gently. "We'll never leave you alone."

Alex looked away, a lump forming in his throat. Silently, Leopard withdrew.

"Thank you," Alex whispered to the closed door.

He barely noticed the tears running down his cheeks as he stared out of the window at the sunlit garden. Peacefully, his head resting against the cold glass of the window, he fell asleep.

***

"Where are the sheets?" asked Snake.

"I didn't find out," admitted Leopard.

"What? Why not?" asked Wolf, annoyed.

Leopard shrugged. "The kid needed some time alone. I guess we'll just have to search for them – or ask him later. You weren't planning on sleeping right now, were you Wolf-man?"

Wolf shook his head, then stopped abruptly.

"_Wolf-man?!" _he asked incredulously.

The others laughed as Wolf scowled and began to mutter under his breath. Did Wolf realise how predictable he was?

***

It was the next day and, true to his word, Wolf drove Alex to his appointment. Alex scowled the entire way.

"Now, can I trust you to go, or do I have to come in with you?" asked Wolf when they arrived.

"What do you think I'm going to do, climb out of the window?" asked Alex, exasperatedly.

Wolf looked at the teen. "I'm coming in with you."

Alex sighed and Wolf climbed out of the driver's seat.

At the reception, he leant over the desk towards the receptionist.

"Alex Rider to see Dr Joyner," he said.

The woman's eyes flickered to Alex's scowling face then back to Wolf.

"Go right on up," she said. "Third door on your left."

Alex took one final look at Wolf and headed moodily up the stairs. He paused by the window, until he heard Wolf's heavy tread on the lowest steps.

"Alright! Alright!" he said, heading up the stairs again.

He paused in front of the door and, taking a deep breath, knocked.

"Yes?" called a voice.

"Erm... it's Alex Rider?" he said hesitantly.

"Oh! Come in!"

Alex pushed open the door. Sitting behind a desk, a pair of glasses perched precariously on her nose, was a woman. Her hair was a vibrant red and coming out of the bun that she had obviously tried to restrain it in. Her suit was professional, her shirt even more so. But she didn't look professional. She looked scatterbrained and well-intentioned. She looked...

"Just like Jack," he whispered to himself.

"Alex Rider," she said, smiling. "A pleasure to meet you."

But Alex had already turned and headed towards the door.

What was he even doing here? He shouldn't be here. He couldn't stand it.

He was half way down the stairs, heading towards a furious Wolf when she came out of the office.

"Alex?" she called.

He paused, held captive by a subtle, silent command in her voice.

"I know it's hard. It feels like no-one can understand, and secretly, you don't want anyone to try, because it's easier to have an excuse to withdraw, to not fit in. But unless you do try, that hopeless, lonely feeling will never leave you. You'll never get away from the edge of that abyss."

_That abyss of despair._

Slowly, Alex turned and looked at her. He didn't see pity in her eyes. He didn't see disdain in her gaze. Just understanding, and it turned out that that was enough for him to head slowly back up the stairs and stand before her.

"I'm Dr Joyner," she said, "But, please, call me Joan."

"Joan Joyner?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know," she said, pulling a face, "Appalling, isn't it? I blame my mother."

Alex smiled slightly.

"Will you come inside?" she asked, politely holding open the door.

Alex took one last hesitant look towards Wolf and walked back into the room.

***

Twenty minutes later, Joan lay down the final card and Alex sighed with relief. She had asked him to take the Rorscharch test again. He had strained to see anything in the coloured blots and, when he had, the images had disturbed him.

"Sorry, I know you probably didn't like that," she said apologetically.

Alex shrugged miserably.

"Have you ever taken one of these tests before?" she asked.

Numbly, he nodded.

"Do you want to tell me when?" she asked.

He shook his head and she didn't push the matter.

"Do you want to discuss the results?" she asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

Alex looked up curiously and nodded.

"Well, the fact that you saw people in so many of them is actually based on an old human instinct. Back in caveman days, those who saw the eyes and the faces survived longer because they weren't caught off guard. Natural selection, see?"

Alex nodded, interestedly. He hadn't expected this.

"The fact that you saw so many of them, and the fact that they tended to be slightly violent images, suggests that you do not trust easily and are constantly on your guard around others."

There was a pause as Alex took in this information. He guessed it was true. When was the last time he had let his guard down around anyone?

"What now?" he asked eventually.

"Just one more test, if you don't mind," she said. "It's a word association test. It's similar to the sentence completion test but faster. Basically, I say a word, and you say the first thing that pops into your head. Ok?"

Alex nodded.

"Work."

"_MI6."_

"Love."

"_Hate."_

"Crime."

"_Scorpia."_

"Spy."

"_Ian."_

"School."

"_Work."_

"Government."

"_Blackmail," _hissed Alex, gritting his teeth.

Joan raised an eyebrow and jotted something down on her notepad.

"Ok," said Joan. "You've done well. Just one more, if you don't mind, Alex."

"Ok," said Alex.

"Family."

Alex frowned. There was a pause. A minute passed, then two.

Finally, Alex cleared his throat. "Erm... Ian?" he said, doubtfully.

"Great!" said Joan, forcing a smile to her face. "Don't worry: I don't take these tests too seriously. One time I said Work to someone, and he replied with Grapefruit. He became completely obsessed with them and tried to figure out what it had to do with his work. Turns out, he was looking at a picture I used to have hanging on the wall. It was of a fruit bowl."

Alex laughed.

"Well, I think that that's enough for today, Alex. Will you be coming back next week?"

Alex bit his lip and looked at her.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I think so."

***

A/N: Ok, so I was going to insert an extra chapter here, but my muse has decided she wants me to write an original fic called the Assassin's Girl, for the moment at least. I would have liked to write an insert about Tom and the rest of the class at Brecon Beacons, but it wasn't working out very well. If anyone does have any good ideas, tell me and they may inspire me to write the interlude.

Anyways, read and review. I'm not so keen on the therapy session scene. I had to do a lot of research on it and I just don't think it flows very well,, or is very realistic. I'd be interested to hear your views.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: ok, so I get the feeling the story is going downhill. I'm sorry. Well, this is the penultimate Chapter.

Actually... that just gave me an idea after a re-read the cliff hanger. Might give you an alternative ending. Anyway, here's the chapter.

DISCLAIMER: Do I really need to say it? *sigh* I do not own Alex Rider. I am not making any money from this.

***

It was two months later and the summer holidays had ended.

A lot had happened in the last two months. K-Unit had moved in with him, though how that had happened, Alex was still unsure. It had taken some getting used to but Wolf, Snake and Leopard had commandeered Jack and Ian's old rooms and the spare room and Eagle had eventually graduated from the sofa to Ian's converted office. Alex was surprised to find he didn't mind. Actually, in a few weeks, Eagle was moving back out. He was getting married to Wolf's sister, though Wolf was constantly grumbling about it, saying he wished he had never introduced them. They all knew that he was secretly happy for them though - just Wolf, being Wolf, would never admit it.

The chances of all four of them being in the house were remote anyway. Frequently, when they got some leave, the SAS agents would scatter to all corners of the country to visit family and, at one point or another, Alex had been dragged to visit all of them, much to his embarrassment.

And if all of them were there, then Alex escaped over to Fox's or Tom's. His class had returned just a few days after him, as he had found out from an enthusiastic Tom. Mrs Jones must have thought the danger, for them at least, had passed.

All of them had been sick to death of army life, and Alex guessed that if the government ever did set up an initiative like that, it would do more harm than good.

He didn't really mind having K-Unit there though. For one, it meant that he wasn't always the one to do the washing up, something he had found he now had a distinct distaste for. For another, it meant that he was never lonely. Mrs Jones had offered to give Jack a British citizenship, but Alex had refused, realising that she was probably safer where she was. She was coming back for Christmas though – she had promised.

There had been no word from Scorpia either. Mrs Jones, who had taken over as head of MI6 after Blunt's disappearance, thought that they had given up. After losing five of their best assassins to him personally and having several more put in a high security prison, Scorpia had realised that it wasn't worth retaliating against the teenaged spy.

Jackal had been released, though, after an order was found in Blunt's desk instructing him to kill Alex. The man had asked Mrs Jones to pass a letter on to Alex, where he apologised and explained his actions. Apparently, Blunt had threatened his job. Luke was going away for a while, planning to travel and then maybe rejoining the normal army – possibly the RAF. He didn't want to be part of the SAS. They were too closely linked with MI6, and Luke's trust in his superiors in that department had been severely shaken.

Meanwhile, Alex had been seeing Joan once a week, and went to Brecon Beacons to train on the weekends – Mrs Jones had decided that, yes, he was an agent but he still needed a semblance of a normal life. Apart from that, he spent his time as a normal teenager, playing footie with Matt and going to the cinema with Tom. He had even been on a few dates with Ellie, though they had both decided that it was better if they just remained friends in the end. She could be friends with someone with secrets, but if Alex wanted more, she would demand more honesty than he could give.

Mrs Jones insisted on taking him out for a meal at least once a week. At first, Alex had been reluctant at best, but he had quickly come to look forward to the meals because they were fascinating. Mrs Jones had begun to educate him in the workings of MI6. He had the second highest security clearance in the firm and she frequently asked his opinions on the matter at hand. And, apparently, it had paid off as she had kept on asking him. According to Fox, the rumour in MI6 - among those who actually knew Alex existed – was that she was grooming him to be her replacement when she retired. Alex wasn't sure if he believed this or not. He was, after all, fifteen. But on the other hand, rumours started by spies tended to be a lot more reliable than normal. After all, they were spies for a reason.

And now it was the start of September and Alex was sitting in Mr Bray's office.

"The thing is, Alex," said Mr Bray cautiously. "I don't know if I can accept you back... after you left here as you did... You would never be able to catch up with your classmates to take your GCSE's"

Alex smiled, "Actually, sir. I took them independently at the start of the summer."

It was true. All those exams that Sensei had made him take had turned out to be actual public exams. Alex now had as many qualifications as he could want, with near perfect marks thanks to Aikema's tutoring.

Alex had nearly cried when he received the letter. He had thought he would never get out of MI6, but with one week, Aikema had given him the opportunity to do anything he felt like.

"And so what would you do for the next year?" asked Mr Bray, curiously.

Alex shrugged.

"PE, Drama, Humanities, ICT and Electronics?" he suggested, smiling slightly.

"Can you guarantee me that you will actually attend classes this year and not disappear for weeks at a time on unexplained absences?"

Alex bit his lip, his smile vanishing. That was the one thing that wasn't going to happen.

"I can't help it if I'm ill, sir," he said quietly.

"Alex Rider!" snapped Mr Bray, apparently losing his temper. "The entire school knows that you're not ill! They say you were put in prison last term. We had the police here over the incident with your former guardian!"

"I don't have a criminal record, sir," pointed out Alex, calmly, though he flinched inwardly at the mention of Jack.

Mr Bray frowned. "Be that as it may, my ultimate duty is to protect the pupils of my school and another incident like that..."

He trailed off. He felt guilty for doing this to the child, he really did, but his duty was to the majority - at least in this case.

"I understand, sir," said Alex quietly.

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"It's fine, sir," said the boy abruptly. "It's... it's fine."

But Mr Bray could see in his face that it wasn't fine. His entire countenance had gone blank, as if he had just shut down completely. It worried Mr Bray more than he cared to admit.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he had a chance, the door was flung open. Alex took in the sight of two men clad in black, urgent expressions painted onto their faces.

"Hardingham? Jackson?" exclaimed Alex, as he recognised them. "What are you doing here?"

"We have intelligence on Blunt, sir; we think that he is on his way here."

"For me?" asked Alex questioningly, ignoring the 'sir', for now.

"We believe so, sir, yes. Mrs Jones requests that you accompany us to headquarters. We have two units of SAS outside the building to apprehend him."

Mr Bray looked from the two men to his former student and back again.

"Intelligence? SAS? What on earth is going on here?" he exclaimed.

Alex looked at him and frowned.

"Would you mind if we continued this tomorrow, Mr Bray? As you have heard, I have places I need to be."

"I... err... yes. Of course," said Mr Bray, completely confused.

Alex nodded politely to his former headmaster and moved towards the door.

"Alex," called Mr Bray as he reached it.

"Yes, sir?" asked Alex, turning back.

"Are you... in trouble? If you are – if it's not your fault – you know we will help, don't you?"

Alex smiled slightly. "I'm always in trouble, sir; it's part of being a Rider."

"I don't understand," admitted Mr Bray.

"You don't need to. Just trust me when I say that we would all be in a lot more trouble if I didn't do this."

"Sir, we really need to go," said Jackson, eyeing the entrance hall nervously.

"Of course," said Alex, inclining his head. "And drop the sir, will you? It's not like I'm your boss!"

"Not yet, sir," smiled Jackson.

Alex rolled his eyes. Mr Bray stared.

The three agents left the room and Mr Bray followed, feeling pulled along in their wake. There was a commotion in the school yard.

"He's here," said Alex.

"And he has an entire yard of school children to take hostage if he wants," said Hardingham, worriedly.

"It seems he does want," scowled Alex as the crowd parted. "Why didn't you evacuate the playground?"

The two agents shifted uncomfortably.

"He wasn't supposed to get that far, sir."

"You call that brat 'sir' now?" came a disgusted voice from within the crowd. "I thought I taught you better than that."

"Blunt," said Alex calmly as his former boss came into view.

He didn't look good. In the two months since he had left MI6, he had changed utterly. His once pristine grey suit was scuffed, with his shirt hanging out and his tie loose around his neck. His hair was bedraggled, a far cry from the short cut he had always previously had and his expressionless expression was replaced with one that Alex had seen all too often on the faces of men like Herod Sayle and Damien Cray... madmen.

He looked at the girl with the gun pressed to her head.

"Jess," he said, his heart sinking.

She glared accusingly at him.

"Let her go, Blunt."

Blunt withdrew a second gun and pointed it at Alex, the barrel right between his eyes, then roughly pushed Jess away. She fell to the ground and scrambled away, but Alex didn't even spare her a glance. He was too focused on the barrel between his eyes.

"I have to say, Rider," said Blunt, "You don't seem especially scared considering you are about to die."

Alex shrugged, projecting a calm facade, even as his heart pounded.

"I died the day you first blackmailed me, Blunt. It was just a matter of time."

Blunt clicked the safety off the gun.

"Goodbye, Alex."

***


	26. Chapter 26

There had been no monologue, no grandstanding. Blunt had simply pulled the trigger, the bullet slamming into Alex's head at the same time as Eagle's bullet took Blunt in the back of the neck. There had been a collective gasp from the crowd, a few girls had screamed, then silence had fallen.

Now, two weeks later, Tom was finally coming to terms with the death of his best friend. He no longer woke up shaking, the image of Alex's limp body burning into his eyelids. He could get through the day without staring blankly into space. When he thought of Alex, it wasn't just his bloody corpse, but of the times they had together before that.

And then he'd ditch school and spend the rest of the day in the park where he and Alex used to play football. The teachers tried to be understanding, they really did, but he could see the flicker of doubt in their eyes – was he turning out like Alex? Was he going to start skipping school for weeks at a time?

Tom didn't know the answer, yet, and he was too busy mourning his best friend to care.

***

_A/N: This is the ALTERNATIVE ENDING. It was written for Iamawsome because of their comment that "it would be kind of cool if [I] killed him" and for reachforthesky for thinking it would be poetic justice if Alex got shot. What can I say? I couldn't resist. _

_And now, please don't kill me. The real chapter is right below!_

_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything!_

_***_

There was a gunshot, loud in the virtual silence of the yard.

Blunt keeled forward, blood pooling from the base of his skull.

Behind him, Alex could make out Eagle, a rifle supported on his shoulder.

Slowly, the soldier walked forward and prodded the man professionally with his foot.

"You ok, Cub?" he asked and Alex nodded.

"Mrs Jones isn't going to be happy with you," commented Alex. "She wanted him alive."

"She would have been far less happy if I had let him shoot you," pointed out Eagle.

"Come on," said Wolf, appearing behind Eagle. "We'll take you to the Royal and General."

Alex nodded and crossed the silent playground. Tom caught him up at the gate. Alex raised an eyebrow as he saw that his friend was clutching Emily's hand. That was a new development.

"You really are hopeless, you know?" said Tom exasperatedly. "We just manage to convince our class that you're not a spy and then someone comes to Brooklands to kill you!"

"I didn't exactly have a choice," protested Alex, slugging his best friend on the arm.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't you two have school about now?" asked Alex, sourly.

"Yeah well, it's not like I'd be learning anything anyway."

"Tom," said Alex, warningly.

"Fine," grumbled Tom.

"Bye, Alex!" called Emily as she dragged Tom back towards the school.

It didn't take long for them to reach the bank, where Mrs Jones was waiting for them in the lobby.

"Alex," she said relieved. "Are you ok? Did you get hurt?"

Alex shook his head. "I'm fine, Mrs Jones," he insisted.

"Good," she smiled. "I think we should have a talk, though. I guess you will want an explanation?"

Alex nodded.

"Come up to my office," she said. "We can discuss it there."

***

Her office was nicer than Blunt's, thought Alex. For a start, it had a nicer view, and a few personal touches subtly placed so that they would give nothing away about the owner while still making it less lifeless than Blunt's. It reminded Alex of his uncle's office, for the brief time he had visited it – just bigger.

"Sit down, Alex," invited Mrs Jones, indicating the chair in front of her desk.

He sat down, and then to his surprise she moved her chair so that she was facing him at ninety degrees. It was somehow less formal than talking directly across the desk.

"You know that your father was a double agent," said Mrs Jones, and Alex frowned. What had this to do with his father?

He nodded his confirmation and Mrs Jones sent him a brief smile.

"What you probably did not know, was that when he withdrew, he was the best agent we had. At that point, Blunt was deputy of MI6 and the head was a man called Aaron Ruskin. Ruskin was set to retire a few months after your father pulled out of Scorpia. Blunt had been the obvious choice, but... well, when John returned, complete with Scorpia training techniques, a high level of experience with, and intel on, a growing threat to the British government. Some people thought that your father would be a better choice. He was just as good at his job as Blunt and, if we are honest, better liked. Ruskin heard these whispers and discreetly offered the job to him. But your father didn't want it. He wanted to retire to France with you and your mother. So Ruskin let him. Unfortunately, Blunt had heard of the job offer made to John. If Blunt ever had a fault, it was pride. He _hated_ your father, simply because he was offered the job before Blunt and worse, turned it down. Blunt could never forgive him. And... I don't think he ever forgave you."

"Hold on," said Alex, incredulously, "You mean he tried to kill me because my father was better liked than him?"

"You have to understand, Alex. You come in here-"

"At his insistence."

"Be that as it may. You come in here and at fourteen or fifteen, have the perfect record and don't even _want_ it. To Blunt, you must have seemed like your father all over again."

"And so he tried to put a bullet in my head?"

"Well... it was probably the reason he sold you to Scorpia, and I have reason to suspect that he is the reason that Scorpia found out where you lived. But I think that you causing him to lose his job was more likely to be the reason he tried to, ah, 'put a bullet in your head'."

Alex didn't quite know how to respond really. It seemed a little over the top to him, but he had heard similar stories on several of his missions. He guessed that there wasn't much difference between being a madman and spending your life analysing their actions.

Just then, the intercom buzzed.

"Mrs Jones?" came the tinny voice.

"Yes, William?"

"We have a Mr Bray in the reception asking for an Alex Rider. The receptionist tried to dissuade him, but he claimed that Alex was a student of his."

Alex's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, looking at his boss.

"William?" said Mrs Jones, "Can you take Mr Bray to Alex's office? Alex and I will meet him there as soon as we can."

"I have an office?" asked Alex surprised.

"All agents have an office," said Mrs Jones. "Just because you are... unofficial... doesn't mean you don't have one. It's just not your name on the door."

"Where is it?" asked Alex curiously.

"It's your uncle's old office, though I must confess to having had the flagpole removed."

Alex smiled. "Aw, I was hoping I would have my own personal adventure playground," he joked.

"Before we go to see your teacher, there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you."

Alex cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"You are an exceptionally good agent. You're success rate is unmatched in the entire history of this agency." She paused and looked at him. "I want you to become an official agent. With proper health care and psychological evaluations and pay."

Alex looked up sharply.

"You would also be licensed to carry a gun with you and speed restrictions wouldn't apply to you, when reasonable, although I would be inclined to suggest that you pass your test first."

"We'll sort out your contract at a later date. I'm sure I can find a way to give you back pay for the missions you have already completed for us – and I will do my best with the CIA and ASIS as well, though I can make no guarantees."

Mrs Jones looked at him expectantly.

"And if I refuse?" he said.

"Then I will allow you to walk out of those doors and you will never here from us again. We will continue to pay for Dr Joyner and I will give you a number to call should any of your... enemies find you."

"It sounds like a good offer," said Alex, quietly.

"Could you really put it all behind you?" asked Mrs Jones quietly. "Go back to being a normal teenager, with normal worries? Not even wonder what is happening here?"

Alex sighed.

"No," he admitted. "I think I would like to be an official agent. It has to be better than unofficial, right?"

"Would you like to think about it?" she asked politely.

Alex sighed. "To be honest, I've been thinking about this decision for over a year, though I never thought the offer would be made."

Mrs Jones smiled. "Shall we go and see your teacher then?"

***

Mr Bray stood up as they entered. He had a photo of Alex and his uncle clutched in his hand.

"This isn't a bank," he said quietly.

"Mr Bray. I think we need to talk. We need your help to control the situation that occurred at your school this morning."

"Who _are_ you?" he asked.

"I'm Mrs Jones. I am head of MI6."

"And what is _Alex_ doing here?" asked Mr Bray. "He isn't in trouble, is he? Because I know that thing with his guardian last term was unfortunate, but he would never have-"

Mrs Jones held up a hand. "Please believe me when I say that Alex is not in any trouble at all. But before we continue this conversation, you must understand that everything said in this building is classified. You cannot tell anyone and you will be asked to sign the official secrets act before you leave. In fact, let's take care of the now, shall we?"

"I'm sorry, what?" said Mr Bray confused.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Mrs Jones produced a document.

"Please sign by the pointers, Mr Bray," she instructed.

Bemusedly, Mr Bray complied, the straightened up.

"What on earth is going on?" he asked, "I do not appreciate having my students almost _shot_ right in front of my school and then dragged off without a word!"

"I hardly think 'dragged' is appropriate, Mr Bray," said Mrs Jones, sternly. "Alex was perfectly willing to come here, and K-Unit would hardly drag Alex anywhere."

"K-Unit?" asked Mr Bray, mystified.

"The SAS unit who collected him from your school."

"Oh... and why is Alex here? Are you _sure_ he isn't in trouble?"

"No," smiled Mrs Jones. "He is not in trouble. He is, in fact, our top agent."

There was a brief, startled pause. "I'm sorry," said Mr Bray, faintly, "I thought you just said that a fifteen year old boy was your top agent."

"There were... unusual circumstances. And Alex proved too good at his job to just let him go."

"So... all those illnesses, those _injuries. _He got them working for you?!"

"Sir, that really isn't the issue here," interrupted Alex, quietly.

"In the last year you have spent more time out of school than in it! Didn't they care how your education was suffering?"

"My predecessor was less than scrupulous," admitted Mrs Jones. "He was fired and awaiting trial for treason. He died this morning when he sought to get revenge on the agent who he perceived to have cost him his job."

Mr Bray turned to look at Alex. "You were the agent," he said.

Alex nodded, though it wasn't a question – just a statement of fact.

"I'm sure you can understand why we need your help with damage control. As Ian Rider is now dead, and has been for over a year, we will release his statement as a spy. We will say that his enemies have been hunting Alex for the past year, and the man who attacked Brooklands this morning was one of them. Alex has had to be taken away from school for his own protection. It was these enemies who shot Miss Starbright."

Alex shrugged at Mr Bray's astounded expression. "A good lie is two parts truth and one part lie. Spin it right and they'll swallow it whole."

"You learnt that for your missions?" asked Mr Bray, snidely.

"No," said Alex turning away. "My uncle taught me."

Mr Bray sighed. "Why don't you just stop?" he asked, exasperatedly.

"Who else would do it?" said Alex.

"Anyone! An _adult!"_

"It's in my blood, sir. I've been prepared to do this since before I could walk."

Mr Bray looked at him disbelievingly.

"Mr Bray," said Mrs Jones, "Perhaps it would help you to understand if you knew that if it were not for Alex, everyone in your school would have died. He has saved all your lives multiple times."

Mr Bray looked at his student, and the determination in his eyes, and suddenly realised that Alex had already made his decision.

He sighed. "I guess I understand why the disappearances won't stop now, Alex, and... and I want you to return to Brooklands anyway."

Alex looked up, and Mr Bray was taken aback by the simply gratitude in the teen's face. It made him squirm inwardly with guilt about almost expelling the child in the first place.

"What changed your mind?" Alex asked, quietly.

"I think you've got it hard enough, without me adding to the load. You deserve a semblance of normality."

"Thank you, sir."

***

Twenty minutes later, Alex sauntered into the Humanities classroom.

Several mouths fell open.

"Rider?" exclaimed Freeman.

Alex rolled his eyes. He just had to pick the class with him in it. Just his luck.

"Mr Rider, please take a seat!"

Alex smirked up at the teacher. "Right away, sir."

One of the girls at the back blushed slightly, and he smiled at her. Her blush deepened. Sliding into a seat by the window, Alex smiled to himself.

It would be all over the school by lunchtime, he knew.

Alex Rider was back.

THE END

***

_A/N: And that's the end! I can't quite believe it! Anyway, I hope you liked the last chapter. I would apologise for the awful cliff hanger last chapter... but I'm bound to do it again, in another story, so I'd better not._

_Oh, and huge thank you to prone2dementia for beta-ing this for me. And to Timon x3 for encouraging me to re-write it when I lost the entire fic for the second time, back before I started posting it. And to Aimael for all the really nce reviews and concrit throughout the story... and to everyone who has reviewed in general._

_I still can't believe I actually FINISHED! Wow..._

_Anyway, review and tell me what you thought! And what story should I start to post next!_


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